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It would really hurt. But I’d be ok.
Time and time again in life, we are struck with hardship. You or a family member gets sick, you lose your job, you experience an emergency outside of your control. This happens. And it’s the inevitability of these events that can lead to a lot of fear and even more anxiety.
Fear because, when it happens, you are grappling to figure out what to do. Anxiety because you don’t know if you could handle it if it did happen. Millenia ago, Seneca was quick to point out that we suffer more in our imagination than in reality. This is often true. Many-a-times, I’ve been incredibly worried about an event only for it to be enjoyable for at least manageable.
The anxiety emerges in the fear of “what if I can’t handle it.” We get caught in spirals of anxiety as we try to plan for everything that could go wrong.
It’s hard to recognize how resilient you are. It’s hard to truly internalize all of the times you were confronted with the unpredictable and emerged stronger than before. But the truth is that despite all of the trauma you have faced, you are still going. You are still moving. You are stronger than ever before. That’s something to celebrate.
In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius argues that obstacles are opportunities. He encourages you to, like a fire, consume the events…
