QUIT Fast-Forwarding!

Fast-forwarding into the future or projecting ahead of right now will always trigger anxiety! You’ve done this since early childhood to feel safer and “more prepared” for let-down or disappointment. It helped you shield yourself against feeling as much surprise, shock or pain if/when something bad happened.

Mentally speeding into the future was how you learned to distract from pain or uneasy feelings in your body as a child. Because this relieved your immediate discomfort to a degree, you kept doing it until it became a deeply ingrained habit. (Anything that gives us relief, is what we return to, over and over again.)

News Flash! Feelings always come first, before you project into the future. We might feel empty, sad or bored, which often prompts the reflex to think ahead of right now, and triggers anxiety. Let’s break you of this bad habit, so you can heal yourself.

I address in this video, how some people have a morbid fear of every little physical ache or pain in their body, and how it's their tendency to assume The Worst about that sensation, and work themselves into a full blown panic attack. Hypochondriacs torture themselves by thinking every unpleasant physical sensation in the body means they're about to die of a dreaded disease. I introduce the tool, "Fo Fo" (find out, before you freak out).

Wear a rubber band on your wrist. Snap it against your inner wrist when you catch yourself projecting ahead of this moment in time. Feel the sting, deep-breathe and self-soothe whatever you’re sensing in your body (don’t try to name the emotion or sensation, even if you feel “nothing”) for two minutes.

When we mentally escape our present reality by preparing for “the worst,” we’re taking the edge off potential shock, disappointment or devastating feelings, when something bad happens, right? Well, during all the years we were growing up, something bad happened way too often!

You may have developed ways to talk to yourself about your pain as a kid, and “When I grow up, it’ll be different,” starts this ball rolling for most children. Maybe you remember thinking this, too.

Projecting ahead of yourself (fast-forwarding) distracted you from emotional discomfort in the moment, and became a habituated response to emotional pain. Anything that relieves pain for us, we keep doing~ it's simply human nature.

Fast-forwarding into the future is actually dangerous for us! We can always envision what scares us, and the moment you focus on or see in your mind’s eye what you’re afraid of, you give it energy and power to grow larger and actually manifest! Do not apply mental pictures or intellectual meaning to your anxious feelings!!!

The future is uncontrollable. We cannot foresee and manage everything before it occurs, and the most intelligent part of us knows this! You’ll feel scared, nervous and unstable every time you project ahead of right now, so learn to stop this!

I speak of using a 'pendulum' to help you get confirmation of what you fear might be true, and quieting your anxiety responses this way. They're inexpensive, and you can find them and order one on the internet.