Anticipation, Anxiety and Reality

For many of us anticipating, expecting, and imagining are great causes

of anxiety. Waiting can drive you crazy! Nowhere was this more evident

than amongst surfers on the east coast last week as they watched and

waited for the arrival of the swell from Hurricane Bill. In this age

of information overload, internet surf forecasting web sites, instant

buoy readings, Dr. Steve Lyons and the Weather Channel's Tropical

Update (at 50 minutes after every hour), and the 24 hour tv news cycle,

who didn't know that Bill was coming? Who hadn't heard that waves

from the projected swell looked big? A 19 foot buoy reading with 18

second intervals is not something we usually see on the "right coast".

Even people who weren't surf obsessed were being warned about rip

currents, waves in the 20 foot range and dangerous conditions.

A look at Facebook on any day last week from Tuesday on saw links

to Bill's projected path, comments about people being unable to sleep

or work, people speculating about travel plans. What a buzz, what a

hype. Everyone was getting whipped up into a frenzy.

Bill brought some fun waves and lot's of over-reaction. Beaches and

roads were closed. Surfers not allowed in the water. At the Sandy

Hook National Recreation Area in NJ some were even arrested for

surfing. The interesting thing was that the giant waves that were being

anticipated never really materialized. Much of the anxiety, anticipation,

and hype were for naught. I'm not complaining, overhead waves are

great especially when the water is warm. Who could complain about

surfing good waves for 4 days in a row? But it surely didn't live up to

the hype, it wasn't what many expected.

So often in life we discover that too much anticipation, too much hype

results in little more than anxiety. Whether it is anticipating a job

interview, a birthday party, a test, or even a trip, the anxiety often is

much greater than, and interferes with our appreciation of the reality.

Too much anticipation can actually ruin things and not let us live in

or enjoy what we get. Sure it's good to prepare, to study, to do some

planning, but in this day and age of information

overload, of all sorts of advice from experts, it's easy to get too intense,

too involved, too anxious. Try to find the balance if you can. Too much

hype, too much anxiety and anticipation actually gets in the way of you

doing your best, gets in the way of having fun. Maybe that's the lesson

of Hurricane Bill?