Go through
Not around the wall — through it
The thought of swimming a hundred meters on one breath makes my stomach drop. I sit on the pool edge, bracing for certain death.
I dive. At 75 meters I hold on to one sentence: this is the worst part, and nothing is going to happen. A hundred. I surface, and the wall is broken.
Certain death turned out to be sensations in the body. You can’t argue them away. You have to live through the moment.
The wall isn’t an object. It’s a process. You pass through it, and it’s gone.
Freediving and breath-holds teach exactly this. Every new depth, every longer hold, touches what you took for your limits. Then in life, too, you calmly walk toward what once seemed impossible.
It’s the same with bad thoughts. You can’t switch them off, only let them pass. The fear of bad thoughts is worse than the thoughts. A thought comes and goes. The fear that it might come never leaves.
Catch yourself thinking “what if something goes wrong”? Ask yourself: what would you do if you weren’t afraid? Your real life is in the answer.
Go through the fear.