When I woke up this morning my first thought was what if no one comes to next weeks mountain movement? And my second thought was, or worse, what if everyone hates it, Thankfully I don't live in this "what if" world long. Also learning how to worry less is something I learned this summer from someone much younger than me.
One day in the mountains training for our attempt at the Adirondack 46 FKT Lukas was talking about how anxiety and worry are self imposed problems. While listening to him I realized how tense I was at that moment. Not just then but all the time. Living in NYC had taken a toll on my mind and body. My low back has been really tight since I moved here and Ive tried everything to get some relief. Chiropractors, Exercise, and pain meds but nothing has every worked.
Once we were done training for the day and on our way home I asked Lukas more about what he was telling us earlier, as sometimes while training we run off on tangents or are in our own worlds. He said, "Well, most of us worry about things we can't control."
So I started making a list of things that I'm worried about. What if people at work don't like me? What if I get injured before we even attempt this world record/fkt? What if my wife needs me for something and I'm in the mountains without service? What if we commit ourselves to this single goal of conquering the Adirondack 46 and are unable to accomplish it?
I started to reflect....
So I took some advice from Jesse Itzler and started writing all the things that worry me in the notes section of my phone. I encourage y'all to try this. I set an alert on my phone for a later date. When that date arrived my phone let me know, as they always do, that I had an appointment. It was an alert to read my note from before about my current worries. When I started reading the note I realized that nothing I was worried about before was a problem today....
Its turns out that 90% of the bullshit you're worrying about right now never comes to fruition. Thats a terrible ROI(return on investment) Obviously Im not saying that you shouldn't worry about anything in your life but we do need to keep in check all the things that we are worrying about. If you're constantly worrying about things that may never happen, you will miss out on whats happening in this very moment. In short you're NOT FUCKIN PRESENT. Ever since I have let go of the things I can't directly control my back has felt much better.