I was thinking back 20 years to December 1999–do you remember the “hysteria” leading up to that month?!
Back then, my spouse and I ran a disc jockey (DJ) business; December 31 had us worried because we weren’t sure how Y2K would play out. Anyone who is old enough to remember December 1999 will recall the media headlines: everything technology-related was predicted to stop functioning, break down, meltdown or otherwise fail us. This was not good news for us as we had multiple DJ events booked for New Year’s Eve.
I remember the minutes before midnight as my tension mounted and I worried about the countdown, the event, the business, and –basically–the state of the world.
The countdown happened without a glitch…12:05 am January 1, all was good. 1 am, still good. In fact, life went on “as usual”.
Catastrophizing and thought-observing
The above incident (and a few other more recent ones) has had me thinking about my tendency to catastrophize. This inclination, to predict the worse possible outcome and to worry I may not be able to cope with it, sneaks up on me–in both my personal and professional life.
Though I’ve become better at catching my thoughts and releasing them, their tenacity and desire to lodge themselves inside my brain is quite impressive. The simple practice of observing the thought, however, has helped me immensely. Observation acts like a magical disappearing dust.
Resources
Thought labeling as a mindfulness meditation technique
4 things to remember the next time you’re spiraling (article linked above)
Over to you
What about you? Are there issues, relationships, or worries that you tend to be catastrophizing about? How do you get out of the worry spiral? Let me know, I’d love to hear from you – contact me.
(Photo by Shawn Harquail from https: //flic.kr/p/xvrcxM)