I am standing backstage right before I give a talk, or I am sitting at my kitchen table before a difficult phone call. My pulse jumps to ninety beats a minute. A fluttering sensation spreads through my stomach, my hands get cold, and my breath sits shallow in my upper chest.
If I tell myself, “This means something bad is about to happen,” the fluttering becomes suffocating anxiety. My mind begins generating emergency scenarios, scanning for exits, or trying to memorize every word so I do not look foolish.
If I pause, look at my shoes, and tell myself, “My body is simply gathering energy because this moment matters to me,” the exact same fluttering turns into aliveness. The adrenaline stops feeling like an enemy and begins feeling like alertness.
Anxiety and excitement are not two different states of being. They are the same physical energy interpreted through two different mental stances: resistance and surrender.
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