In a few hours, this will be over

Try a mindset that makes challenging times feel doable

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is that anxiety producing events can sometimes be
kept in context by reminding yourself that they will eventually

(00:28):
be over. It won't be long before you will be
viewing the event in the rear view mirror, so best
to enjoy what you can of it while remembering how
small it is in the grand scheme of things. A
few weeks before I recorded this episode, my family traveled

(00:49):
on vacation together. Right before we had a series of
other events that required a lot of coordination. Transporting many
people in their stuff anywhere can be challenging, and our
home bound trip from vacation involved making a ferry, navigating
customs at an airport, entertaining a toddler on a plane

(01:10):
for more than four hours, and then driving ninety minutes
to get home at midnight. The next morning, which was
a Sunday, my oldest son and my husband needed to
get back on a plane to get him to camp
for four weeks, and I needed to turn myself around
to get on a cross country flight that evening to

(01:30):
give a speech Monday morning. I figured out the obvious parts,
like getting child care for that Sunday. To cover the
time between when I left for the airport and when
my husband got home. We packed my son's camp bag
before we left on vacation and did his laundry while
on vacation, so he was ready to go. When you

(01:54):
get home at twelve ten am and leave again at
nine am. This is key. In any case, none of
this felt like it was going to be particularly easy
or pleasant to get through, so I did spend some
time worrying about how everything was going to go. But

(02:15):
as I thought about this on the Friday before our
Saturday and Sunday travels, I had a few thoughts. First,
in seventy two hours, I would be through the roughest
patch of it. Most likely we would have gotten home
from vacation. Most likely my kid would be successfully delivered

(02:36):
to camp. Most likely I would have made my cross
country journey and would be ensconced in my hotel. Seventy
two hours passes quite quickly. It is a limited amount
of time. I might find the next seventy two hours
not entirely calm or tranquil, but soon would be over.

(03:02):
And the truth is, there were a few things to enjoy.
For instance, my husband and I had dinner on the
beach at a fancy restaurant our last night of vacation
when we had child care for the kids. That seventy
two hours was going to contain some rough patches, but
I would also see the sun set over clear turquoise water.

(03:24):
I knew I would probably mostly enjoy my second plane flight,
which would be solo, much different than flying with a toddler. Indeed,
the sense of contrast might make the first flight more
bearable and heighten the enjoyment of the second. I would
get to sleep one night in my own bed, which

(03:44):
is my favorite place to sleep. I might even have
a few moments to play the piano or sip a
cup of coffee in my own kitchen in between experiencing
with the St. Thomas and Newark and Philadelphia and Las
Vegas airports have to offer. In any case, the time passed,
and here we are. All of this is in the

(04:07):
rear view mirror. We made the ferry. The toddler was
both exuberant and ornery on the flight. But the flight
is now over, as all time in the past is
now over. What loomed large as future anxiety is now
just memory. That is how it is with everything. I

(04:33):
think this mindset of recognizing how short the upcoming patch
of time will be can help keep it in perspective.
In seventy two hours, this will be over, and then
it is on to the rest of my life. So
it goes with many things, as in in two hours,

(04:54):
this tense meeting will be over one way or another.
By the end of today, I will most likely have
a decision, and if not today, by tomorrow. In forty
eight hours, this agonizing decision will be in the past
and I will be dealing with the outcome. In forty
five minutes, I will have the result of this test.

(05:17):
In a week, I will be home from this long trip.
Time will keep passing. It always does, nothing can stop it,
which is simultaneously terrifying and comforting. The terrifying part is
a different matter, and maybe we will address that in

(05:38):
a different episode, But for today we can focus on
the comforting part. Since this time will be in the
past eventually, why not see what parts can be relished.
There is almost always something focusing on that. As the

(06:00):
time keeps ticking, mix most things feel more feasible. We
see happy glints on a river that soon it's just
water under the bridge. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

(06:24):
our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four, then Breakfast

(06:46):
p o D. You can also shoot me an email
at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com
that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For

(07:07):
more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Yea