Shepherd Take Warning

Managing Anxiety with Logic and Optimism During Morning Chores

When I walked outside this morning for chores the sky was red. I whispered aloud, “shepherd take warning…”’ I knew heavy rain was hitting the farm today. I saw the weather report but I could also feel it. Balminess was everywhere, pacing around the farm like a stalking animal. No birds sang. No traffic passed. There weren’t even distant neighbors going about their lives in the background. There was just the quiet dank and a blood red sky.

It felt like Christmas Day did these past two years, ominous and pretend, like rotting fruit covered in plastic sprinkles. A warm wind blew past. It got under my skin and goosebumps raced along my forearms as if someone was laughing quietly right behind me. The gust rattled the wind chimes next to me and I flinched by reflex, the hair on my arms lifting. The unseasonable warmth, the blazing sky, the threat any homeowner with a small wallet and old roof feels…

Warning taken.

As someone who has been managing anxiety for a lifetime, I know this feeling of caution may be warranted. It could also be bullshit. Sometimes a bad start to the day is based more on folk sayings poisoning thought patterns than actual evidence. I had no reason, at all, to walk outside and feel the low melodic whistle of dread. I just convinced myself that was the likely outcome.

Sound familiar? I’ve got something that may help.