Good reminder to me: whether it’s someone else’s anxiety I’m picking up on or my own, the fact remains that while it’s with me, it’s up to me to keep myself calm enough to stay attuned to inner guidance and ease through it. Yesterday I had anxiety for the first time in years. Hurricane Irma is forming and I’m prepared here for a hurricane, cat food, bottles of water, headlamps, weather radio, batteries. I feel safe in my home, my uncle built it with 2×6 construction, not 2×4 and it weathered category 3 Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 which had 115mph winds. A category 5 has winds of 155 but I still feel safe here.
In 2004 for Hurricane Frances, I evacuated at the last minute for Franklin NC. I was glad my van broke down in Lake City, FL. Had I gotten to Franklin, I would have been caught in worse weather, and a flood. That makes me leery of deciding ahead of time where to evacuate to. At this point local friends are talking about heading to Orlando since we’re 12 miles from the ocean. I usually don’t get upset over what a lot of friends are upset over. But this time my nearest and dearest are talking about leaving. They’ve made no plans to do so, no calls to see what hotels are available so I can’t go along with a plan. All I hear is the fear. I can’t count on anyone else to make a plan for me. My neighbor across the street will stay unless there’s a mandatory evacuation, so we’ll have company. His home often has power after ours goes out. I know we can’t count on cell phone service during the 12 hours the storm will roar overnight so I need to be prepared to keep calm and occupied during what is always a sleepless night. So when I found myself with big anxiety yesterday, I didn’t know if it was my own concerns or just me paying attention to everyone around me who is concerned. But whether it’s their anxiety I’m picking up on or my own, the fact remains that it’s with me and it’s up to me to keep myself calm and collected enough to stay attuned to inner guidance. You too?
In the meantime, I’ll prepare as if everything depended upon me and I’ll pray as if everything depended upon God.
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RELATED: GABA: The Anti-Anxiety Molecule
Update: A musician friend suggested I try GABA, it’s natural and many musicians use for performance anxiety. It seems helpful, it does relax the thoughts. Buy it from Vitacost here
GABA: “The Anti-Anxiety Molecule”
Andrea