I Feel Fine

Did you know your brain is hardwired to freak out about things? Yup. It’ll obsess over the most random things and try to convince you that your life is in imminent danger. 

That’s great if you’re living in prehistoric times when pretty much anything could be a death sentence but it’s less useful when you’re stuck in traffic, your boss is a jerk, or your significant other loaded the dishwasher wrong. 

Unfortunately, your brain is less interested in useful than survival so all the things that are unexpected or outside of what you prefer can feel as life-threatening as a coiled snake on the path. 

And that’s totally fine. Your brain is doing a fantabulous job of keeping you alive so don’t get cranky about it when it happens to you or when someone else has a stalking lion ahead reaction to something you’ve done.

How do you know when it’s happening to you? 

Wait you mean you can’t tell when your brain is overreacting and automatically self-correct in real-time so you’re always the calm peaceful Jedi master you’d prefer to be?

It’s ok, I get it. 

First, let’s give it a name. My teacher called it catastrophizing and I like that because a lot of the time it can feel like we’re experiencing a catastrophe when it happens.

So let’s say you get an email from your boss that one of your team is going over your head to get a request approved that you already declined. Rude, right?

But rude in that how could they do such a thing, they clearly don’t respect my authority and are trying to undermine me in front of my colleagues and supervisor and maybe they want my job and how in the actual catnip do they think I’ll let them get away with getting me fired kind of way.

This is catastrophizing. 

That moment when your brain goes to the worst possible scenario and it feels like the end of the world. 

So how do you know it’s happening?

The first clue is you are having an extreme emotional response (whatever that looks like for you) caused only by circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence just means evidence that isn’t based on direct observation of a fact.

So you get REALLY angry with your girlfriend for cheating on you because she didn’t answer your text as fast as usual which clearly means she was too busy with someone else to be bothered responding to you…. Or she dropped her phone and now it won’t power on.

Or terrified because you’re home alone and a thunderstorm knocks out the power and your alarm is disabled and you heard a noise which ofc is someone breaking in to kill you while you can’t see them and can’t get help and why in the world didn’t you buy the guard dog instead of the alarm or…. You can just hear outside noises that are usually drowned out but the electronic hum in your house.

Or in the depths of despair because you’re going to have to bury your whomever because they must be dead since they didn’t call to check while on their camping trip and you know how deadly bears can be. Or cell coverage can be spotty and batteries die... 

So what do you do when this happens? 

Be compassionate towards yourself like you would a puppy or toddler who was scared.

Just observe what’s happening and thank your brain for trying to keep you safe and let it know that you understand that’s one possibility but until you have proof you’ll imagine a different one - because that’s all your brain is doing at this point, imagining the worst-case scenario. 

The cool thing about brains is you’re totally free to imagine the best-case scenario. In fact, I highly recommend it. 

What? That’s not realistic? That’s ok, neither is catastrophizing but my way is infinitely more enjoyable. 

Music Time

When this happens to me (or my children who super hate this but it amuses me because I’m kind of a troll from time to time) I start singing the song that inspired today’s episode - It’s the End of the World as We Know It by REM.

From the chorus:

It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine

So tell me... 

When was the last time you catastrophized a situation? Were you right? Was it really the end of the world? Or was it something slightly less horrible or maybe not even a little bad? How would your experience of that moment, day, event have been different if you’d chosen to imagine something other than the worst possible outcome? 

Spend time with these questions and see what comes up. If you’re feeling frisky, hit me up on Instagram and share your answers with me. If you want my help with throwing all the glitter, you can book a free consultation at www.wickedveracity.com/consult to learn more about working with me. 

Until next time, my wish for you is a peaceful place inside yourself in the midst of catastrophe whether real or imagined.

Podcast Theme Music

License:  Rustic Ballad by Alexander Nakarada