What If It All Works Out?

If your mind has been running through every possible way things could go wrong, you're in the right place. Our minds are wired to look for problems. They replay awkward conversations before they've happened. Imagine rejection before anyone has said no, and convince us that uncertainty must mean that something bad is coming. The tricky part is, is that the body often responds to those imagined futures as though they're happening right now. So for the next few moments, let's give your mind something new to practice. Take a moment to settle in and just find a comfortable position, closing the eyes or just softening the gaze. Now taking a slow, deep breath in and a long breath out, breathing in and breathing out. One more time, breathing in and breathing out. And then just beginning to bring to mind whatever has been taking up space in your head lately. Maybe it's an interview, a relationship, a decision, just noticing the story your mind has been rehearsing without judging it. Just noticing with a sense of curiosity and kindness and gently asking yourself, what if it all works out? Allowing your mind to explore that question. What if you're stronger than you realize? What if you can actually handle whatever comes next? What if this thing that you've been dreading becomes the very thing that helps you grow? Notice what happens in your body as you imagine those possibilities. Perhaps the shoulders soften a little, the breath becomes slightly easier or nothing changes at all and that's okay too. Remember your anxious thoughts aren't predictions and they aren't facts. And if your mind can imagine the worst case scenario, you can also imagine one where things unfold in your favor. So taking one final slow breath in and as you breathe out, allowing yourself to loosen your grip on that story that everything will go wrong. The truth is you don't know what tomorrow will bring, but you also don't know all the good things that are still possible either. And maybe, just maybe it all works out. Just beginning to invite gentle movement back into the body, wiggling your fingers, wiggling your toes. When you're ready, slowly and gently opening your eyes....