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

THE MOUNTAIN IS YOU
57
These irrational fears are safe, because deep down we know
they aren’t going to happen. They are placeholders, a way
for us to express the feeling we really have onto something
we know isn’t going to happen.
When you find yourself in a fear cycle, constantly repeating
some strange, random, or unimportant one-off
circumstance or situation that has a very low probability
of becoming reality, ask yourself if you have any feelings
about something related that is actually valid.
For example, if you get anxious about being a passenger in
a car, consider if your fear is of “moving forward” or being
“out of control.” Or, if you’re anxious about being fired from
your job, the fear might really be the idea that you aren’t
worthy of another job or being humiliated by a higher-up.
HOW TO RESOLVE THIS
Instead of wasting all of your energy trying to control
some worst-case scenario, consider what the message
of the fear may be and what it is telling you that you
need in your life.
If the fear was an abstract metaphor, what would the
meaning be? Is the abrupt loss of income a symbol of your
desire for security? Is the fear of the future a symbol for
not living fully right now? Is the anxiety about making
decisions a symbol for knowing what you really want and
being too afraid to choose it?