Fear can intensify stress.
Work, family, bills, responsibilities, and relationships can create real pressure. The fear of what might happen can further intensify it.
Fear that you won’t succeed. Fear that people won’t like you. Fear that you aren’t good enough. Fear that you’ll lose control. Fear that someone will leave you. Fear that life won’t turn out the way you imagined it.
And that’s where the problem usually begins.
We don’t suffer just because of what’s happening. We suffer because of the picture we’ve created in our minds of how everything should look.
To be perfect. To keep everything under control. To never make a mistake. To be understood by everyone. For everything to be safe, comfortable, and predictable.
But life isn’t like that. Life is often chaos. Uncertainty. Changes of plan. Setbacks. Silence. Loss. Readjustment. Trying to keep everything under control can be even more draining. There’s no peace in everything being perfect. It helps to distinguish between what we can influence and what requires a different plan.
When you accept that you don’t have to know everything in advance. That you don’t have to hold everything in your hands. That you don’t always have to be strong. That you don’t have to prove your worth to everyone.
Let go of some control. Not because you’re weak. But because you’re mature enough to realize you can’t manage your whole life with clenched fists.
This doesn’t make the problems disappear. It simply gives us more room to focus on what we can do.
Sources: WHO — Psychosocial Risks.
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