Anxiety and uncertainty face so many of us, but you can navigate through this.
Imagine that you are travelling along the road, and without warning of any sort – no road sign, nothing on the car navigation, nothing on Google maps, nothing on Waze – there is a bend in the road. And the bend looks so sharp and you were not expecting it. Now what?
It is natural to become anxious. It is natural is have a few doubts about your ability to navigate the bend. You were not prepared for it. You were not expecting it.
What you need to remember is that you have turned through bends many times before. Maybe just not this unexpectedly or maybe not a bend as sharp as this. So what do you do?
You keep focused. The bend is on the road. The bend is not going to change. It is you who has to take action. You need to make the choice to turn around the bend. If you do not turn, you will certainly crash, and as there are a lot of unknowns with this bend it could be a minor crash or it could be catastrophic.
So stay focused, talk to yourself. Remind yourself that you have turned around bends on so many occasions before. Remind yourself that you have the experience to navigate this bend.
Plan carefully how you are going to turn around the bend, but be conscious that you do not have forever to plan your move. You need to keep moving. You can slow down while you think about how to navigate the bend, but do not stop. Be aware of what is in front of you, and in your peripheral vision. It is no good looking at what is behind you – you are not reversing – you are going forwards.
And remember that a bend in the road is only dangerous if you forget to turn.