How do you know when emotional reactivity is driving your actions? When you’re being dragged along by anxiety?
People often have a personal goal of calming down little. Great goal. Love it. But you know what’s a quick way to get calm? Letting anxiety drag you to where it wants to go: avoiding people, controlling people, letting them function for you, etc.
What if the initial goal wasn’t calming down, but trading in one kind of stirred-up-ness for another? The anxiety of the moment, for the anxiety that comes with making a thoughtful move. You might feel just as stirred up, but gain a kind of versatility in how you respond to challenges. Instead of 3 flavors of relating to people, you have 31.
Versatility can look like:
Being able to stay in the room during difficult conversations or anxiety-producing topics.
Being able to leave the room when a situation calls for it.
Listening to others without overfunctioning. ...
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