What are you allergic to?

Do you suffer from allergies? Now is the time of year when many are starting to sneeze, sniffle, and cough because their body thinks the environment is attacking them. A woman in the small group that I was leading the other night said the most insightful thing. As we were talking about the open doors that we needed to close, she spoke about a mindset that she needed to close off. She realized that she was reacting as if people were attacking her, when in fact, they were not. She said, “It’s like allergies. Your body is fighting the wrong thing. It thinks the pollen is going to kill you, when it won’t really.” And then you have to deal with all these disease-like symptoms.

This analogy works so well for many of us who suffer from anxiety. In anxiety, our body reacts as if there is a present and grave threat. When in reality, usually it is worry over something that has not even happened yet or something that isn’t grave to us at all.

Even if you don’t experience anxiety, most people have something that they overact about. How many times have you been frustrated about something and taken it out on someone who had nothing to do with it? How many times have you attacked something that wasn’t the actual issue? Just think of the guy who punches a hole through an innocent wall that did nothing to him!

For me, technology has often been the thing that makes me frustrated. It isn’t the actual technology…technology is great! It is when I expect it to work a certain way and it doesn’t. So what is underlying this frustration? Where is the fear coming from? It is the fear of losing my connection with others. A deep-rooted childhood fear of being isolated and alone.

What triggers your anxiety or frustrates you? Where do you begin to have an “allergic reaction” to something that is not even a threat? When you find the underlying fear, you can confront it, accept it, talk to it, and find freedom.

If you need help uncovering these fears or handling them when they arise, email me to set up a spiritual direction session. Even just a 30 minute session could help!

About the Author: Julie Glaser is a healer who creates sacred spaces for people to share, release, and grow. She’s in the habit of being in awe and wonder and writes to share her own experiences and curiosities with other inquisitive souls in the process of transforming.