ASK ABDI: HOW TO FACE A DAUNTING TASK?

QUESTION: I am in a financial crisis - due to several factors based on some decisions that I made in the recent past, including letting go of a profession and its title. I am now in the process of facing the consequences of my financial actions. I am a little daunted by the prospect of starting with nothing and no status, and wondered if you had any thoughts? I have put this off for a week out of fear, but that is doing no one, especially me, any good.

ANSWER: Whenever one is facing a daunting task it is crucial to stay in the moment and take it one step at a time. Literally start with one thing and see it through before moving on to the next. Freaking yourself out by constantly projecting into the future, which is a way we control the uncontrollable, will only lead to anxiety. Easy to say, difficult to do. So untangle the task at hand, one strand at a time. And do it like a meditation by staying in the moment and allowing this moment to inform what needs to occur in the next, and so on.

This crisis, like all crises, will have an end. That is the salve for your anxiety.