One moment

We only ever have the one moment to live at a time.  That is a mantra I need to remember more often, when my mind is feeling panicked at the thought of imagined futures.  Those future thoughts are always filled with dread, a life with no joy or love.  At the best of times, I am naturally calm and content and can find joy in the smallest of things, but sometimes anxiety just takes over.


Anxiety may start as a rational feeling which stops us walking in front of a bus or warns us about when to be cautious.  More often than not, it is unhelpful and damaging and makes a sunny happy day into a day of misery and tension.  The irony about anxiety is that in itself it causes more unhappiness than most of the things that we fear will happen.


Anxiety stops us from doing things that we love and freezes us on the spot.  If we step out of that anxious paralysis and push ourselves to do the things we love - talking to friends, making art, reading novels, baking a cake - then anxiety becomes side-lined and less important.  Matt Haig describes anxiety and depression as being a 'intense fear of happiness'.  It is so important to realise that anxiety lies, it makes us dread things that will never happen, it robs us of contentment.  

All feelings and moods are transient and fleeting even when we feel stuck. We will come out the other side.  Sunshine, joy and happiness and even boring normality will be back again.

“We must allow ourselves to feel the gales and downpours, but all the time just knowing this is necessary weather” 
Matt Haig



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