During a recent three-week hiking trip, there were times where I felt more than a little "on edge". I took these moments of struggle as an opportunity to reflect on something broader: that we can be in a certain amount of discomfort or pain, or generally in a bad situation, without suffering. Assuming we are not being faced with a mortal threat, and leaving aside extreme and lifelong hardship for the time being, is it possible for something to be challenging without it being a "fight"? Can something be a struggle without us struggling with it?
Tag: self-talk
Past Tense: The anxious voices of history
Whereas in my last piece I considered anxiety as fear of the future, in this post I reflect on the ways in which it might in fact derive from the past. Rather than being a “fear of future feelings”, as I put it, perhaps anxiety can be viewed as a way in which our fearful past selves keep up with us.
All & None of the Above 