Don’t Panic: Written on the back of the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Don’t Forget to Breathe: A cool song by Bitter:Sweet.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy: A cool song by Bobby McFerrin.
I like these titles. While we may not always like things worded in a negative manner, these pieces of advice really do stand out well.
There are things that happen in our life that lead us to panic (I see this in my practice all of the time) – where we think that there is no way that we will ever get out of (insert feared thing here). When this happens, we feel so helpless and stuck – as if there is a crushing blow that we have received that takes our breath away (difficulty breathing is a common panic experience). But, we all have to adjust. We may end up with things that we do not like or do not feel great about, but we have to decide to be happy. We have to make the best of the situation that we find ourselves in (you can hate having panic, or you can learn to live with it). Maybe our life will grow into something so awesome that it will just surprise us one day how great it is, or maybe someday, through a lot of work and dedication and patience, we will gather up all of the things that we want and need in our lives and we will finally feel complete. Either way, it is not going to be perfect – there are going to be bumps in the road. But, we can all learn to adjust to those. Successful people learn how to adjust – people who do not adjust do not succeed.
Either way, we have to have hope that all will turn out well. In “The Shawshank Redemption” the underlying message in that movie was hope – never lose hope. My favorite line in the movie was said by Red, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” I hope that we all take a moment to work on getting ready to really live.
Published on May 21, 2014 by Patrick B. McGrath, Ph.D. in Don’t Try Harder, Try Different!
If you have anxiety or depression, use the ACT workbook “Get out of your mind and into your life” by Steven Hayes. If you have severe anxiety and are ready to start living, see a counselor, therapist, or life coach today!
Angela Zaffer 