Every time I traveled, my anxiety would ramp up. I’d be so excited about going to the beach or visiting family, but a day or two before the trip my mind would be racing, stomach clenched, be unable to sleep, feeling like I’ve forgotten something important. And my stress created arguments as I tried to control every little thing to reassure myself nothing would go wrong. If a plane was involved, it just made the whole experience than much worse for me. Nausea and all the digestive results that came along with that (which I won’t list here!) This created a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom.
I knew in my head that vacation is supposed to be fun. I knew my extreme reactions made no sense. And I would berate myself for feeling the way I did. So many people don’t get to take vacations. So many people lived much further away from family than I did – those trips were pretty simple drives! So on top of the feelings I didn’t seem to be able to control, I just felt pretty crappy about myself. And I would wonder how I was ever going to be able to enjoy things like a weekend away with my husband or my girlfriends if I couldn’t solve this. Would I eventually miss out on big events like weddings if I couldn’t get through a simple trip?
I’m leaving for vacation in a couple of days and I’m really looking forward to it – flight and all! So, what’s changed? I can’t tell you that there is a magic bullet. My outlook on pretty much everything has been changed through the work I’ve done in life coaching. I didn’t go into it looking to solve my travel problem! I went into it looking to solve my life. I was just going through the motions in so many ways and trying to ignore my feelings instead of looking for root causes and solutions. I was miserable so much of the time. I just wanted to feel normal again and enjoy the simple things – like travel!
The thing about life is that every facet of my life is connected with and affected by every other facet of my being. When I started examining my feelings and the thoughts behind them, I started to heal my mind and could practice thoughts that would serve me. As I started healing my mind, my relationships improved. I was open to all kinds of learning and I became curious about other areas of my health and worked on my diet. Things just started clicking into place – one after the other – until I found myself enjoying the moment I’m living in, no longer worrying about what’s coming next.
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