Happy Sacred Sunday!
I woke up on Monday morning of this week drowning in anxiety. It was one of those mornings where I felt like “everything” was wrong, like “my whole life” was chaos, and like I was “never” going to get it together. Do you ever have mornings (or days) like this?
Now you may be surprised to learn that I experience anxiety. Most people assume that I don’t have these feelings. I remember my brother once telling me that I couldn’t possibly understand how he felt because what he had was anxiety.
That’s when I explained to him that for some people anxiety becomes their identity, but because of the tools I’ve been learning since I was seven years old (growing up as my father’s apprentice in personal development), I don’t attach anxiety to my identity. Instead, I remember it’s only a feeling that passes through me.
Back to Monday morning, the moment my eyes opened, anxiety had rushed in, flooding my brain with extreme language, a racing heartbeat, and that sense of not knowing where to begin to feel better.
I sat down with my journal and a pen in hand. And I wrote down the things that were weighing heaviest on my heart. I noticed three things that were renting space in my head.
Three.
Not “everything.”
Not my “whole life.”
Three open loops.
They had felt enormous because they were unnamed. Swirling together into one big blur of “everything is wrong.” The moment I named them, they shrank to their actual size.
Then I set the intention to simplify.
Simplify my thoughts. Simplify my language. Simplify my actions.
By the end of Monday, I had made decisions, and tackled 2 out of the 3 main tasks. By Tuesday, the third was mostly handled as well.
I still have a million things to do.
I’m a wife, mom, business woman, and I suspect I’ll have a million things to do for the rest of my life!
And yet, I refuse to drift into the identity of an anxious woman who has more on her plate than she can handle. Some days it’s easier than others. This Monday required intentional re-alignment.
I share this with you because I want you to remember that you’re not alone when the world feels too heavy on your shoulders. And you don’t need to wear that weight like an identity, either.
Speaking of not being alone, one thing I love to do is learn how other people navigate their big lives. Even when they’re vastly different than mine. I find that different doors lead into the same room.
That’s why this week on the podcast, I interviewed a man I have admired for more than 20 years. His name is Mario Murgado. In our conversation, I learned how he, too, was an apprentice for many years before he became the owner of the car dealerships he now has. He tracks his progress with KPIs, and he simplifies relentlessly to focus on what matters most, to the exclusion of everything else.
As I relistened to the interview, I noticed that’s exactly what I did on Monday morning with my journal, even though his life is so different than mine.
Tune in here to listen to our conversation.
And if you catch yourself drowning in your emotions the way I was on Monday, try sitting down and naming what’s actually renting space in your head. It’s rarely as big as it feels, and you quickly grab your power back. That’s the pause. That’s where the clarity lives.
Sending you so much love, today and always,
