Doesn’t it surprise you how things come into your life exactly when you need them to? Almost as if your thoughts somehow manifested into that reality? I’ve found that a lot over the past few years. All I have to do is ask for something, believe that I truly do deserve it and can have it, and then go about my everyday life, knowing that it’ll come to me when the time is right. There I’ll be, going about my daily business, making coffee, paying bills, complaining about the weather, and whoosh, there it is. Once a dream, suddenly reality.

It’s the same for all the negative emotions I sometimes carry around. You hold on to something so tightly for fear of losing it and almost guarantee that you will. A friendship, a relationship, a work contract, a professional partnership, an idea– you obsess about losing that something you feel brings you validation, you picture in your mind that horrible scenario of losing it, and one day, there you’ll be going about your daily business, making coffee, paying bills, complaining about the weather, and wham. It’s gone.

I’ve been holding on to an idea pretty tightly over the past few months. A professional achievement that in my head validated me, made it somehow acceptable for me to call myself a journalist. Something I’d worked so hard for and was so afraid of losing that I couldn’t let it breathe. But I finally faced up to the worst-case scenario. What would happen if I lost it?

The answer: nothing. I’d still be happy ol’ me, going about my life, writing up a storm, coming up with ideas, and doing what matters to me. I’d probably have one less thing to worry about.

Funny how that works out.