In the past, I have mentioned to you that I have struggled with anxiety for some time now. This anxiety is uncomfortable to deal with— as I often feel tense, and there is also another major drawback to it, in that it often leads me to having a real lack of patience. The ultimate struggle being, that without patience, unfortunately, I have missed out on so many of life’s beautiful lessons.

During the Rosh Hashana holiday, one of the focal points of the ceremony is the blowing of the ram’s horn— known as the Shofar— which we blow 130 times. During this year’s service, the gentleman who blew the shofar was 72 years old, and understandably, blowing on an instrument so many times is super difficult for a 25 year old— let alone a 72 year old. About 65% of the way through, the gentleman completely ran out of steam, and he was having an extremely difficult time completing his task. Initially, my reaction was anxiety that I masked as impatience. “When is this going to get done? Am I going to be here all day? Why can’t he just let a young person take over and complete the task?” My mind went on and on, until I was able to catch myself. I then said to myself, “This man is doing his best— take a seat, breathe, and all will be okay.” This pausing, followed by the reframing of my perspective, allowed me the space to see the ultimate message, which was that of perseverance. 

The gentleman eventually finished, and in watching this man persevere through what was clearly not an easy task, the conclusion that I came to, is how incredible it is if we believe in ourselves and set out to achieve a goal. If we are willing to persevere— to not give up— we can truly accomplish almost anything. If the gentleman had given up— which so many of us would have— I would have missed out on a reminder to myself on what I, personally am capable of accomplishing. After the service, I went over and thanked him. He said, “I am so embarrassed— I did such a bad job”, to which I replied, “You did an amazing job, and I am in awe of your desire to never give up.”

There is no telling what can happen if we truly believe in ourselves. We are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for, we just need to overcome our self doubt, and be willing to persevere. Overnight success does happen over night— but it takes 20 years of overnights to make that happen. Nothing that is truly worthwhile comes easy— it takes hard work, determination, and a true sense of self— which in the case of my anxiety, wants to tell me that I can’t, that I won’t, that there is no way— and so many other self-defeating prophecies.

In learning how to deal with my own personal anxiety, I have some questions I’d love to run by you, and I would be so grateful for your feedback:

How do you deal with your anxiety? Additionally, how do you manage your own personal lack of patience? If you are a naturally patient person, have you always been like this? And perhaps most importantly, how do you deal with your personal sense of unworthiness?

I will part with this: lately, I have changed up my meditation to what I choose to call a positive affirmation, in that rather than asking God, I am letting God know that I am ready. I am letting him know that I am the vessel— that I am ready to accept all of his blessings. Instead of praying for it to be good, I choose to know it is good, and will continue to be good. I am choosing to believe in not yet, instead of no— and choosing to believe that if things are meant to be, that they will happen in due time. Finally, I am acting myself into right thinking, because I know that it is impossible to think myself into right acting. 

Accountability, Community, Unconditional Love.

Asher


I want to remind all of you that you can hear more on my podcast, Showing Up. We have lots of amazing shows with interesting guests on a variety of personal development topics. It would be great if you could also rate 5 stars, review and subscribe to the show. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/showing-up-with-asher-gottesman/id1489856285y

Posted in Thought of the Week