Language of Letting Go - June 9 - Panic
Nature Girl
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Language of Letting Go - June 9 - Panic
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go
Panic
Few situations - no matter how greatly they appear to demand it - can be bettered by us going berserk.
--Codependent No More
Don't panic!
If a swimmer was crossing a great lake, then suddenly focused too heavily on the distance remaining, he might start to flounder and go under - not because he couldn't swim, but because he became overwhelmed by panic.
Panic, not the task, is the enemy.
Many of us have moments when we feel crowded and overwhelmed. We have times when we feel like we cannot possibly accomplish all that needs to be done.
We may be facing a task at work, an improvement in ourselves, or change in our family life.
For a moment, it is helpful to look forward and envision the project. It is normal, when we look ahead at what needs to be done, to have moments of panic. Feel the fear, then let it go. Take our eyes off the future and the enormity of the task. If we have envisioned the goal, it will be ours. We do not have to do everything today, or at once.
Focus on today. Focus on the belief that all is well. All we need to do to reach our goal is to focus on what presents itself naturally, and in an orderly way, to us today. We shall be empowered to accomplish, peacefully, what we need to get where we want to be tomorrow.
Panic will stop this process. Trust and guided action will further it. Breathe deeply. Get peaceful. Trust. Act as guided, today.
We can get back on track by treading water until we regain our composure. Once we feel peaceful, we can begin swimming again, with confidence. Keep the focus simple, on one stroke, one movement at a time. If we can make one movement, we have progressed. If we get tired, we can float -- but only if we are relaxed. Before we know it, we shall reach the shore.
Today, I will believe that all is well. I am being led, but I shall only be led one day at a time. I will focus my energy on living this day to the best of my ability. If panic arises, I will stop all activity and deal with panic as a separate issue.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.
Panic
Few situations - no matter how greatly they appear to demand it - can be bettered by us going berserk.
--Codependent No More
Don't panic!
If a swimmer was crossing a great lake, then suddenly focused too heavily on the distance remaining, he might start to flounder and go under - not because he couldn't swim, but because he became overwhelmed by panic.
Panic, not the task, is the enemy.
Many of us have moments when we feel crowded and overwhelmed. We have times when we feel like we cannot possibly accomplish all that needs to be done.
We may be facing a task at work, an improvement in ourselves, or change in our family life.
For a moment, it is helpful to look forward and envision the project. It is normal, when we look ahead at what needs to be done, to have moments of panic. Feel the fear, then let it go. Take our eyes off the future and the enormity of the task. If we have envisioned the goal, it will be ours. We do not have to do everything today, or at once.
Focus on today. Focus on the belief that all is well. All we need to do to reach our goal is to focus on what presents itself naturally, and in an orderly way, to us today. We shall be empowered to accomplish, peacefully, what we need to get where we want to be tomorrow.
Panic will stop this process. Trust and guided action will further it. Breathe deeply. Get peaceful. Trust. Act as guided, today.
We can get back on track by treading water until we regain our composure. Once we feel peaceful, we can begin swimming again, with confidence. Keep the focus simple, on one stroke, one movement at a time. If we can make one movement, we have progressed. If we get tired, we can float -- but only if we are relaxed. Before we know it, we shall reach the shore.
Today, I will believe that all is well. I am being led, but I shall only be led one day at a time. I will focus my energy on living this day to the best of my ability. If panic arises, I will stop all activity and deal with panic as a separate issue.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.
Nature Girl
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Today, I will believe that all is well. I am being led, but I shall only be led one day at a time. I will focus my energy on living this day to the best of my ability. If panic arises, I will stop all activity and deal with panic as a separate issue.
I cannot run the universe, and there are no guarantees that every day will be filled with sunshine, but I can remember that in the past the storms have brought peace and rainbows and love.
Just for today I will embrace all that happens as a gift of learning, love and being led.
Hugs
Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: To the North
Posts: 1,086
Almost panicing (panicking?, paniking? how do you spell that anyway?) -
Well, point being, lesson well learned and true. Each time I started welling up with the panic and fear of finding the "right" place, someplace to call my next home, etc. I had to stop, take a deep breath, acknowledge it, talk to myself and remind myself that during the course of my lifetime, my HP has kept me well sheltered and there was no reason to think this time would be different. It wasn't, I just had to keep looking each day, and know that each day I did what I needed to do and Saturday, I walked into my next home. There is was when I turned left!
Good reading, good analogy - tread water, relax and float, but keep moving forward a stroke at a time!
Many thanks!
Well, point being, lesson well learned and true. Each time I started welling up with the panic and fear of finding the "right" place, someplace to call my next home, etc. I had to stop, take a deep breath, acknowledge it, talk to myself and remind myself that during the course of my lifetime, my HP has kept me well sheltered and there was no reason to think this time would be different. It wasn't, I just had to keep looking each day, and know that each day I did what I needed to do and Saturday, I walked into my next home. There is was when I turned left!
Good reading, good analogy - tread water, relax and float, but keep moving forward a stroke at a time!
Many thanks!
Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 328
Great reminder - thanks so much. When I am in the middle of a panic, I certainly can't think clearly or make any kind of good decision. And I always project the worst - why is that - never a good outcome. So I spiral down quickly, and have myself penniless, alone and living under a bridge!
Two things that help me: Look down at my feet, that's where my head should be. And hold onto my chair and breathe (ten deep breaths).
Love in recovery,
Jody Hepler
Two things that help me: Look down at my feet, that's where my head should be. And hold onto my chair and breathe (ten deep breaths).
Love in recovery,
Jody Hepler
Member
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 433
I need to read this about panic every day and will print it out after I write my note.
Even the little everyday things sometimes/frequently paralyze me before I know it. I think about this big house we've lived in 18 years; we need to down-size; clean it out and get it ready to show and eventually sell. I am overwhelmed when I think of it and think it cannot be done, no longer have the energy, don't have the money to fix it, don't have the discipline to get rid of stuff/whatever ... it's hopeless.
If I stop the downward spiral of thoughts and remember I don't have to do it all today/this week/this month, that I can take it in small steps with my HP's help ... I'll eventually get there. Even if I truly cannot do it, things will get taken care of and it's not the end of the world and I'm not some horrible person because of it.
Sometimes it's a small task that seems monumental at the time. If I remember to apply the tools implied in this reading about panic, then it's do-able and I remember to put things into their proper perspective, one that I can look at and not run away from.
Even the little everyday things sometimes/frequently paralyze me before I know it. I think about this big house we've lived in 18 years; we need to down-size; clean it out and get it ready to show and eventually sell. I am overwhelmed when I think of it and think it cannot be done, no longer have the energy, don't have the money to fix it, don't have the discipline to get rid of stuff/whatever ... it's hopeless.
If I stop the downward spiral of thoughts and remember I don't have to do it all today/this week/this month, that I can take it in small steps with my HP's help ... I'll eventually get there. Even if I truly cannot do it, things will get taken care of and it's not the end of the world and I'm not some horrible person because of it.
Sometimes it's a small task that seems monumental at the time. If I remember to apply the tools implied in this reading about panic, then it's do-able and I remember to put things into their proper perspective, one that I can look at and not run away from.
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