SMR Day Three - Feelings Are Not Facts

For a solid two-year period in my life, I awoke, every day with massive, chest-crushing anxiety.

I was such a star at this behavior, I even had panic attacks in my sleep and I’d wake up with my heart racing, panting and sweating.

It’s better now. Most mornings, I just wake up with heaviness or depression, which believe me, is an improvement.

No meds by the way. Just doing my work.

Once upon a time, I had been told that whoever wins the battle for your mind in the morning, wins the whole day.

And while there’s some truth to that, the belief was keeping me stuck.

I didn’t have a fighting chance, because I was anxious before I woke up and that seemed unfair.

So I changed the story.

"I may wake up with these feelings and I acknowledge them, but let’s be clear, I WIN MY DAY….SUCKA.”

Many of you wake up anxious or depressed too, but please know, it's a state, not an identity. Your feelings, while critically important, are signals to your brain, that something is going on.

🌸 This relationship makes me consistently sad.

🌸 This job fills me with joy.

🌸I’m angry today and not sure why…maybe I should look into that.

Your feelings provide data to your conscious mind so you can respond intelligently. You can feel sad and depressed and still choose kindness, which by the way is often fatal to a depressive mood.

Ironically, the best way to quit being a slave to your emotions is to acknowledge them, validate them, and investigate why they’re there.

That is the work.