I wrote in a previous post: "don't panic", but I had a panic attack last fall… it came creeping up on me - I thought I was stung by a wasp… I felt a sting, and I saw a wasp and I connected the two in my mind later on. Anything but take responsibility for what was happening to me… what I let happen to me… the situation I created … I felt faint and had to sit down… and then lie down… and I felt strange sensations going up my right leg and into my right arm and then down my left leg… and I was so weak… and my tongue "grew" in my mouth and tingled and my lips were numb and my hands shook… I called a doctor and they wanted me to take an ambulance into the hospital because they thought I was having an allergic shock!  I was weak for hours after that, but I didn't want to take an ambulance.. so dramatic! I was in chock, but I must have known somewhere inside of my disenfranchised self that this was only the fear inside of me screaming to get out… to be taken care of and released.

I went to the doctor’s office.  It wasn't a sting after all… it was a panic attack. My thoughts and emotions created all those physical reactions after receiving some bad news that I already knew was coming - my reaction was due to not having an immediate solution to the problem that, if not taken care of, would have dire consequences for me.

Even though it wasn't a sting, I felt the after effects of one… I had a terrible headache the day after and I was very tired. These are the kinds of things we have to overcome when under pressure to do break through to the next level - to change a major situation.

"I realize fear is invisible. I remember to breathe whenever fear knocks at my door."

Fear can do this to your body, and in this sense, fear becomes visible. It becomes all sorts of symptoms, pains and outright illnesses in your body.

Breathing… it is so often we forget to breathe at all when we become fearful and stressed… your breathing deserves to be paid close attention to…  we can go for days without food, not that long without water, but only minutes without breathing.

Worries, fears, resentment, regrets, guilt, doubts, hurts, anger - the list is long, but these are the things that are holding us back. We must own up to our fears and worries and learn to dissolve them in the light of new commitment, reinforced by focused action, to that which makes us feel passionate about life.

To Your Utmost Success,

Angela Wickenberg