Brianna Wiest - The Mountain Is You_ Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery (2020)

THE MOUNTAIN IS YOU
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Worrying excessively is not a malfunction. You are not of
lesser character because you can’t “just stop” and “enjoy
life.” Worrying is a subconscious defense mechanism. It’s
what we do when we care about something so much we
are equally terrified that it could hurt us, so we prepare to
fight for it.
What is the exact opposite of your fear? That’s what you
want. That’s what you want so much that you’d go to the
ends of your sanity to defend it.
There’s nothing wrong with you for thinking this way, but
there’s also nothing wrong with you for being ready to
move in a new direction.
The reality is that worrying does not protect us in the way
that we think it might. We cannot beat fear to the finish
line. Worrying sensitizes us to an infinity of negative possible
outcomes. It shifts our mindset to expect, seek out,
and create a worst-case scenario. If a crisis were to occur,
we’d start panicking, because our brains and bodies had
been preparing for this epic war for a long time.
Had we not premeditated these fears so excessively, we
wouldn’t be as impacted were they to actually happen. We’d
see the situation for what it is and respond accordingly.
That’s where the nasty cycle forms: Once we worry ourselves
sick over something that is totally delusional, and
it doesn’t happen—because, of course, it was never going