So I was freaking myself out this morning.
Panic cat is panicking.
I'm learning this shiny, new-to-me technical thing at work. I largely understand it, but I keep bumping up against little pieces of it that don't make sense to me, and then spinning myself out into a frothy mix of panic, anxiety, and doomsaying.
Then I got pinged by my friend Matti, who was asking me to remind him of the 4 Necessities. That is, the four things I have told him before that are absolutely mandatory and which you cannot help but to do them. Talking to him about them reminded me that they apply to me too.
Here they are:
- You must exist. Because you already do. If you're questioning whether you have to or not, WHO'S DOING THE ASKING?
- You must age. Because you are. You're moving forward in time, 1 second per second, relentlessly. Can't stop it.
- You must change. Because you do. Literally every moment of every day. The you of 3 three minutes ago is different at a molecular level, even if it's only partially.
- You must, eventually, die. Because like all living things, you will.
Every other single thing except these 4 things is utterly and completely optional.
Whew. I'm glad he asked me to remind him. I needed the reminder myself. Now that it's on my mind, I'm able to step back from my full-on-freak-out and see that I don't have to doubt myself. I can just put my head down and move forward as best I can.
Mindfulness is work. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to it.