What are you doing next?
You can listen to the audio version of this blog here.
Have you ever found yourself so busy thinking about what’s coming next that you haven’t got any brain space to think about what’s going on right now?
I find my head in that place (usually the future) without knowing how I got there. I’m working on a task, and the next thing I know, I’m doing that task automatically and stressing about something that might or might not happen in a week’s time (or a month’s time, or a year’s time, or when I’m 88 years old… my brain doesn’t seem to mind where in the future it takes me!). I tell myself that it’s ‘this one thing’ that I’m worried about, and when ‘this one thing’ is over and done with, then I’ll find calm and contentment once more. Except that it doesn’t work that way. There’s always another ‘this one thing’. Over many years, I’ve come to realise (with the help of lots of books, podcasts, and chats with people who have similar experiences) that it’s not ‘this one thing’ that’s worrying me; it’s that my brain likes to worry. That understanding completely changed my approach to settling my anxiety.
Anxious feelings and depressed thoughts are always based on the past or the future. Our brain loves to take us there. Again, and again, and again. Why do we let it? It’s not even like we enjoy it most of the time! This tendency is, of course, hard-wired into us. In years gone by, we were more likely to survive if we worried about the rustle in the bushes than if we ignored it. Our brains haven’t caught up with our huge changes in lifestyle.
Your challenge today, should you wish to accept it, is to catch yourself at least three times when your mind has moved to the past or the future and bring it back to the present moment. Right here, right now, whatever is going on. Even if it’s something as mundane as hanging out the washing.
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that’s why we call it the present.”
You can listen to the audio version of this blog here.
Sue Palmer MCSP, aka The Horse Physio, is an author, educator, and award-winning Chartered Physiotherapist. Sue specialises in understanding the links between equine pain and behaviour, caring deeply for her clients, and promoting calm, connection, courage and confidence through curiosity, compassion, clarity, and creativity.
Popular books and online courses from Sue Palmer include:
Harmonious Horsemanship, co-authored with Dr Sue Dyson
Understanding Horse Performance: Brain, Pain or Training?
Horse Massage for Horse Owners
Stretching Your Horse: A Guide to Keeping Your Equine Friend Happy and Healthy
Sue is registered with the RAMP, the ACPAT, the IHA, the CSP and the HCPC.
