It occurred to me today upon reflecting on the  relationship difficulties in the fourth trimester. Hardship can make people act out of character. But when we act out of character, flexibility is allowed. It is a temporary reaction. A moment of madness. There may be judgement and the start of attachment with empathy. But it is easier to let go of behaviours, thoughts and feeling that you don’t identify with.

I’ve had moments in the past thanks to meditation. Shutting down anxiety because my health was too bad and it was making things worse and I could not cope. I had a similar moment yesterday. I could not sleep because of anxiety. I thought to myself. I need to sleep, I will be useless to my son tomorrow if I don’t. I don’t want him to experience anxiety like this when he is older. What would I tell him that would help him? Sometimes our minds can play tricks on us thinking of lots of horrible things. But those things rarely happen. Often good things happen or just okay things.

It is funny how we attach to behaviours and thoughts and feelings that occur over a prolonged time. Some of this is science. Some of it not. This is me, this is unchangeable. If you believe it, it is true. A calm quiet acceptance, a refusal to engage with the mind can help so much.

Anxiety involves tossing and turning things. Imagining, playing with it in the mind. This is an active process. It is hard to restrain. Very hard, but not impossible.