March 12, 2020
I have been having a lot of anxiety in the past 2 weeks. I figured out last week that part of what was stressing me out was not addressing any of the piles of crap and paperwork on my dining room table. My living space is open and I walk through that area many times a day. I was constantly being reminded of what I was not taking care of. I realized this through tapping*. Because I felt overwhelmed, I was shutting down and doing nothing, only making it worse.
So my wiser Self encouraged me to pick one pile and see it through from start to finish. I chose the package that I’ve been meaning to mail my nephew for (ahem!) three weeks now. I committed to getting the package ready to mail that very night (ridiculously simple: wrapping a coffee mug in tissue paper and accommodating the other contents to fit, a task that took me about five minutes). The second night I wrote a note in the card I was including in the package and on the third day, I went to the post office on my lunch break and sent it on its way. I dropped 50 pounds of stress by doing that one thing. The relief I felt inspired me to pick a second mound and by slowly chipping away, I’m almost done.
If you, like me, have a tendency to procrastinate, be encouraged. Make a pinky-pact with yourself: take one small step of action and address one thing, or a part of one thing, that you are avoiding. Little commitments to small actions really do make a difference.
NN
*Tapping is a technique based on Chinese acupressure points. It’s a simple tool that can be easily learned and there has been a lot of research done on why it is effective. It is also referred to as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). There are many excellent and free resources on-line. One website I like is called thetappingsolution.com, where siblings Nick and Jessica Ortner offer information and free videos. They have both written New York Times best-selling books on tapping. I also like Brad Yates, a best-selling author on the topic as well. Brad has free YouTube videos (Tapping with Brad) that are helpful and easy to follow along with.