Your friends are trying to kill you

Why do we have a fight-or-flight response when there is no physical danger?

It’s just a musical performance. How bad could it possibly get?

Yeah, I get that it’s confusing when you understand logically that nothing horrible is likely to happen, and still there’s a deep anxiety response.

Shouldn’t you just be able to talk yourself out of it?

Why can’t you just take a look at the evidence, and see how unlikely it is that your friends and family are going to kill you?

Haha 

If you think it’s so easy, try it.

As far as I’m concerned, you don’t believe it’s safe. You do believe you will die. That’s exactly why you have the anxiety response. You are anticipating physical danger. 

Don’t believe me? Try it.

“Try what, Michael?”

Ah, that’s the part you’re missing.

Here’s where you’re wrong:

• You think it’s possible to talk yourself out of the anxiety.
• You think the anxiety is a bad thing.
• You think it’s possible to eliminate the anxiety.

Yeah, I don’t look at any of it this way. Sorry 

The problem is that you’re too attached to your stories. Not that you have too much anxiety.

The solution will involve figuring out how to detach from your stories. Not how to diminish your anxiety.

If you still think anxiety is a bad thing, all I can do is challenge you to experience some anxiety deliberately and notice how it’s really not that bad. Like, it’s kind of a joke. Seriously.

That’s the monster you’re so scared of? 

I wish I had your problems.

—Michael