Skatergirl was worried.
What if there is a traffic accident on the way to the competition.
What if her plane is delayed.
What if the competition runs early.
What if…
Skatergirl placed her head in her hands and sighed. She was sitting in a chair at gate C5 in the airport, getting ready to fly to another state for a competition. She’d done this many times before, but for whatever reason this time she couldn’t stop worrying.
What if she falls in her ending pose.
What if her skate blade breaks.
What if her dress rips.
What if she forgot to pack her hairspray.
What if…
What if…
The worries went on and on.
When Skatergirl arrived at her destination, the first thing she did was head to the competition venue. There, she checked in and took a look around the rink.
Even though she was supposed to be getting a feel for the venue, the what ifs didn’t stop. What if I forget my skates tomorrow.
What if I fall on every jump in my program.
What if I run into my old coach.
What if…
What if…
What if…
That evening, Skatergirl had a session with Mentalgamecoach.
“I’m so worried,” she said. “I can’t stop thinking about all of the things that might go wrong.”
“Do you have any examples?” Mentalgamecoach asked.
“Just silly stuff,” Skatergirl replied. “Stuff like, what if I can’t find my hairpiece. What if I fall in my ending position. Or what if I forget to take off my skate guards when I’m getting on the ice.”
“I see,” Mentalgamecoach said. When you’re worrying about forgetting to take off your skate guards when you step onto the ice, are you in the past, the present or the future?”
“Future.”
“Right. When we worry about the future, we start to feel anxious and overwhelmed. Why do you think that is?
“I don’t know.”
“Right now, can you take action so you don’t fall in your ending position tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Exactly. You have no control over something that might happen in the future. This is what makes you feel worried.
“Let me ask you this, have you ever gotten on the ice without taking your skateguards off?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I fell down and everyone rushed over to see if I was okay. Afterwards, we had a good laugh about it, although it was kind of embarrassing at the time.”
“So it wasn’t such a big deal, right?”
“No, I guess it wasn’t.”
“If that happens at the competition you’ll deal with it, right? Why worry about it beforehand.
“In order to deal with these worries you can do one of two things. First, you can bring yourself back to the present. Second, you can distract yourself.
“If you’re on the ice, bring yourself back to what you’re doing. But, if you’re off the ice, like when you’re driving to the rink or waiting around in the lobby, you can either bring yourself back to the present or distract yourself.
“Basically, instead of forcing yourself to focus on the present, you can distract yourself with something else, like listening to your favorite music, watching a funny video, or talking to a good friend. Anything that distracts you from your thoughts will work.
“Do you have any questions?”
Skatergirl shook her head.
“Great. Now you have two different techniques you can play with when you find yourself worrying about the future. The first one is focusing on the present and the second one is distracting yourself.”
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