OKAY.....SO I'M NOT WORLDLY

Today will be my last blog before traipsing off to Italy. I leave this quote that I discovered in a magazine for myself and for all women to commit to memory:

"If you avoid certain situations because you're worried about the outcome, you never get to learn what would have happened if you had faced those situations. You deprive yourself of the chance to see how you would have coped. When you to decide to avoid, you experience a temporary state of relief, but you're also left feeling powerless and deflated, as if you can't control your own behavior. Eventually you become discouraged and disheartened as a vague sense of feeling paralyzed sets in. This is how avoidance slowly eats away your self-confidence over time....Push yourself to feel vulnerable--this allows you to learn that you can handle whatever happens, and that even the most difficult of emotions can't destroy you. We're all capable of feeling intense fear so we can escape life-threatening situations...But usually people avoid things that simply make them feel uncomfortable." From Women Who Worry Too Much by Holly Hazlett-Stevens, PhD

I'm not a good traveler. I stress. I throw-up. I get migraines. I stifle screams from time to time. I would be much more comfortable never leaving Way Down In Mayberry again.

I feel this quote came to me today for a reason. I can push my feelings of vulnerability and know that I can experience life and love and travel with a confidence that I don't think I could have done yesterday. This quote will travel with me, in my purse so that I can pull it out at a moments notice.......to help soothe the anxiety (along with my prescription for Xanax).

Wish me luck. See you in a couple of weeks. Arrivederci!