Fear of doing something you haven't done before or going somewhere different is quite normal. We are brought up being taught the things we have to do and what not to do to stay safe. We are taught to plan for every eventuality, to keep with the familiar routes, to stick with what we know. This is ingrained in us from the moment we start to gain our independence and it does stand us in good stead.
But if you don't do anything other than what you have always done, what can happened?
Yes we stay safe. Yes, if it is something that occupies our time like a pastime or journey, we get better and more familiar with it, meaning that each time we do it, it becomes like second nature and we can then possibly help others with directions or how to do it because we have learnt the route/steps that well we do it almost automatically.
But is that always a good thing? Now I am not saying that we should all thrown caution to the wind and leap about here there and everywhere with wild abandon not thinking of possible consequences and eventualities. No, not at all. It is always good to plan for them. But, if we were to always stick to the same places, the same books, the same style and colour of jumper, the same tv programme all the time, the same road to live on and the same friends who would think and have the same point of view as us, just think how that would make our lives. We wouldn't have such a wide variety of knowledge because we were reading the same books and watching the same tv all the time, we wouldn't meet or see anyone else but our immediate neighbours so we would never meet new friends, we wouldn't learn about different colour schemes and shades because we wore the same colour and style all the time and we wouldn't even have anything new to talk about because our friends would already know our point of view and have the same on. The more you think about how our life would be if we did everything the same all the time, the more you may realise that if we did that our lives would soon become very boring and also quite lonely and insular.
There is merit on sticking within what you feel comfortable in that maybe it avoids any kind of panic setting in or even the thought that you may get anxious kicking in.
But if you don't venture outside your comfort box once in a while, if you don't sniff the air outside it by at least having a go at something new or a different way of doing something, then how will you know if you can manage it or not? How will you expand your knowledge, expand you capabilities, increase your confidence and meet new people who may become very important people in your life?
Its sometimes good to take that anxiety by the horns and give it a good kick up the whatsit! Yes trying something you haven't done before or making a journey to somewhere you haven't been before will be a little scary but a little scary can be a good thing if you turn that scaredy around to the good . That
scaredy bit of your thinking will make you be extra vigilant of the times you need to be at that train station so you will get there in plenty of time, that scaredy will allow you extra car travelling time so you arrive at the airport in time to perhaps chill out before you board with a cuppa in the café, that scaredy will put in your mind to plan your journey well in advance, do your research so well that everything in taken in to consideration, so that when you actually do that new thing or make that journey, you will have written that many list details, timings, step by step and such like, that you have everything written or printed out to consult to check along your way .
I have anxiety. People often wonder whether I still suffer from it as in their mind I might seem to breeze through when I travel away to see friends or to a craft show, without thinking. What they DON' T realis is that for weeks and weeks before hand, I will have been spending hours on the net working out best train and timings, planning my journey down to the minute,even down to time taken to cross the road from the airport to a taxi rank of train station! They don't see the ream of timetables,and tickets printed out as well as downloaded to my phone and also kept on my phone email. They don't see the weeks of working out which bag I can fit things in best and the double checking bag measurement allowances. And this after have travelled on my own to a craft show for ten years now but I still do it. But if I didn't, I know my anxiety would kick in, even now. So this is what I mean. Even if it like me, it takes you to have to do endless print outs, and downloads, endless lists of travel times or steps to do whatever, weeks of mentally trying things out. it is still worth it, so that I can say at least I have tried. There is a good saying. The world loves a trier, and at least it you have a go, even if you don't manage to do all of what you set out to do, then at least you can say you had a go rather than not try and then regret not doing so after when the time comes that you cant.
Explore all that this life has to offer, explore our world and explore just how much your are capable of even if your brain tries to tell you you cant!
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