Reality Is a More Pleasant Place Than Neverland Is

The above quote is so true! Most of the stress I experience is a byproduct of my thoughts. Rarely does stress ever arise from what’s actually happening in the present moment. For one thing, I’d have to fully BE in the present moment to actually experience it, and my lifetime pattern of behavior has been to BE in my head.

Living in our heads is epidemic. I don’t know many people who haven’t learned to separate themselves from the present reality by living in the Neverland of their minds. And yet, the Neverland in our heads is a place where we are constantly being clawed by Captain Hook. How many times do we have to walk the plank before we finally realize that living in our heads is a big mistake?

The answer to that question probably lies in just how trapped we are in our addictive ways of thinking and acting. At some point in our lives, it was safer to leave reality behind and to live in our heads. Today, however, that is definitely no longer true for me.

The present moment is actually pretty good in my daily life. There’s little chaos and practically nothing to fear. The only time I suffer real anxiety is when I get stuck in my head. The neverland in my head is filled with horrors, lots of “what if this happens” or “what if that happens” horrors. They are ALL imaginary, and yet they hold tremendous power over my feelings and the resulting discomfort in my body that is completely stress-related; actually, imaginary stress-related.

I’m really sick of it. So now, when I feel an onslaught of internal fear and stress, I check my thoughts and I quickly get out of my head by reminding myself that these imaginary fears don’t actually exist in the now, in the real world. If I have trouble getting out of my head, I turn to my Higher Power for help. I know I can also go for a walk or call someone to reconnect with reality.

So far, I’m doing a pretty good job of escaping the horrors of the Neverland in my head. God pulls me back into the reality of the moment, where my “what if” thinking dissolves.