As I sat quietly this morning, I suddenly understood something that Vernon Howard would tell his students in every talk. “When you are scared, stay scared.”
What I saw this morning was why he said it, because fighting anything perpetuates it!
I am anxious by nature, so staying scared seems like overkill to me. Now I see that fighting fear perpetuates it.
We all have our perplexing problems that never go away. Mine is social anxiety. I don’t mind people briefly, but I never enjoy long periods of socializing. I get SO tired.
When something comes up that pushes my buttons, my mind starts presenting solutions to me. But they have never worked. That is why I should stay anxious.
Never think you have mastered anything for you will be tested on it again and again.
Vernon often used the Situation: Solution illustration. The situation is my social anxiety; the solution is not to battle it on the mental level.
Let it be. Whatever it is, let it be.
Surrender is another word for Let it be.
“I give up” is a beautiful teaching.
Rest in reality, even when it appears terrifying.
Let it be.
Vicki Woodyard
“I give up” — is significantly easier to say after years of very tiresome trying on my own. Not that I no longer try, but I do get flashes of “Ah yes, I can’t do anything about anything!” Thank you, Vicki
We human beings are so thick-headed….