377 SelfWork: Recognizing When Worry and "What If" Questions Paralyze You
The SelfWork Podcast
Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 19 January 2024
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
So many of us are living "what if" lives, meaning that we're not looking at the present and for opportunities that might be right in front of us. Instead we're worrying about the "what ifs" or "what if nots" of the world. And that can keep you in a constant state a perpetual indecisiveness. Of course, foggy thinking is a part of depression and worry is typically a huge part of anxiety. So we'll weave all that together on this episode of SelfWork.
Our SpeakPipe voicemail for today is also about anxiety; she's talking about anticipatory anxiety as she stutters and experiences fear of ridicule because of that. Understandably. So, I'm going to include her excellent question in our discussion of anxiety.
Vital Links:
Excuse Me As I Kiss The Sky - a book of poetry by Rudy Francisco
Link to A Guest House by the poet Rumi
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is self-work and I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford. Here at self-work we discuss psychological and emotional issues and what you can do about them. |
| 0:15.8 | Whether that's learning self-acceptance, taking action, or seeking therapy or treatment. |
| 0:21.5 | Eight years ago, I extended the walls of my practice to reach those of you |
| 0:25.0 | who are already very knowledgeable about mental health treatment but also to those of you |
| 0:29.5 | who might say you'd never dark in the door of a therapist and yet you are here I'll answer your questions |
| 0:36.1 | while I invite you to take a few minutes for your own self-work. |
| 0:48.1 | It's as if we are so afraid of pain or sorrow of making a mistake of not doing the right thing at the right time with the right person at the right job living in the right city that we could spend |
| 0:55.6 | hours in that corner in our home. Just thinking, over analyzing, ruminating, pondering, not really feeling anything but fear. |
| 1:07.0 | Welcome to this week's edition of self-work. |
| 1:11.0 | When I search for a topic each week week I often look at what's crossed my |
| 1:14.9 | path that week. I decided a wonderful poem that someone in my Facebook group |
| 1:19.4 | had posted would be a great basis or productive basis for our focus today. It's a poem by poet |
| 1:26.1 | Rudy Francisco and it's short but speaks very plainly about the reality of worry. |
| 1:32.1 | It's all about pin yourself into a corner, |
| 1:35.0 | although much more eloquently than that. So many of us are living what if lives, |
| 1:40.0 | meaning that we're not looking at the present and at opportunities that might be right in front of us. |
| 1:46.0 | Instead, we're worrying about the what-ifs or what-if-nots of the world, and that can keep you in a constant state of perpetual indecisiveness. |
| 1:55.0 | Now of course, foggy thinking is a part of depression and worry is typically a part of anxiety or depression actually. |
| 2:02.0 | So we'll weave all that together on this |
| 2:04.5 | episode of self-work. Our Speak Pipe voicemail for today is also about anxiety |
| 2:09.7 | but she's talking about anticipatory anxiety as she stutters and experiences fear of ridicule |
| 2:16.2 | because of that, understandably. |
... |
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