For me – and many people around me – 2019 was the Year of Change. I don’t typically agree with assigning general monikers to things in life, but as 2019 progressed I couldn’t help but acknowledge that the feeling I’d had at the beginning of the year was ringing true. A lot of things that had been the same for a long time changed, all at once, all around me. It was exciting but I was also really glad I’d had that feeling so I was a little prepared for it.
This year, I can’t shake the feeling that Big Things are coming, and I’ve found that I’m alternately nervous and excited. A good friend of mine told me once that excitement and anxiety are the same emotion – the only difference is that one has a positive spin and the other has a negative one. This continues to help me redirect that energy that wants to be fearful in a more positive, proactive direction.
Think about it: if you’re nervous or anxious, usually you’re afraid of a negative outcome. If you’re excited, usually you’re anticipating a positive outcome. Often, the latter is a result of proactive efforts rather than a reactive stance. I’ll say that again in a different way:
EXCITEMENT = EXPECTING POSITIVE OUTCOME OF PROACTIVE EFFORT
ANXIETY = EXPECTING NEGATIVE OUTCOME FROM A REACTIVE STANCE
I especially like this because often, the thing that can help us through difficult scenarios is being proactive, even when it feels scary. The worst thing we can do is hang back and say, “Yup. This is going to be bad. I just know it,” and refuse to do anything at all.
If you feel nervous about something that’s coming, how can you change your approach to be proactive? What questions can you ask? What ideas can you bounce off of someone you trust? How can you put down your fear of the unknown to embrace the excitement of exploring something new?
That is, by the way, the tactic I am myself committing to take this year. Big things aren’t guaranteed to be good, necessarily – but I want to meet them with courage rather than fear EVERY TIME. That means I am committing myself to an attitude of exploration. Exploring is fun, interesting, and only a little scary when you discover you were walking along a cliff in the dark. Even then, look what you just did! Death defying stunts! Things no one thought were possible!
Activity: What is the portent you have for 2020? How will you commit to meeting the challenges and the gifts?