Mini Mindset Tip: When Life is Good, Do You Brace for Impact?

How to Stop Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

When I was growing up, summers on my grandparents’ ranch in Texas were a masterclass in nature’s unpredictability—flash floods, tornadoes, grasshoppers devouring everything, hailstorms just before harvest. I learned early that no matter how well things seemed to be going, disaster could strike at any moment.

Years later, I still find myself bracing for impact, even in the safe confines of my own garden. One season, the tomatoes ripened perfectly, the peach tree was heavy with fruit, and for once, the rabbits and squirrels were kept at bay by a red tailed hawk. It should have felt like a victory. But instead, I felt uneasy. I knew how quickly things could change—how one storm, one hungry raccoon, or one sudden cold snap could undo everything overnight.

My husband, who lived through far worse disasters than grasshoppers and squirrels, used to gently laugh at me about this. “It’s just a garden,” he’d remind me. “The stakes aren’t high.” Although I know this, my body still braces, waiting for the inevitable.

Why We Struggle to Trust Ease

There’s a reason we brace ourselves and expect disaster. If you’ve been through stress, loss, or unpredictability, your nervous system adapts. It learns that stability isn’t the norm, so when life starts feeling good, it assumes something bad must be coming.

But here’s the truth: Ease isn’t a setup. It’s not a trap. It’s just ease. And we are allowed to trust it.

How to Shift from Fear to Allowing

Next time you notice yourself bracing for impact when nothing is wrong, try this:

1. Pause and Acknowledge It

   • Say to yourself: I notice I’m waiting for something bad to happen. But right now, I am safe.

2. Find Evidence of Stability

   • Look around: What’s steady in your life? What’s working? Ground yourself in what is real, not what is feared.

3. Redefine What’s “Normal”

   • Instead of assuming ease is temporary, remind yourself: I am allowed to feel good. Things can go well for me.

4. Breathe into the Moment

   • Physically soften your body. Shoulders down, jaw unclenched. Let your breath signal safety to your nervous system.

Ease Doesn’t Mean Nothing Will Ever Go Wrong

This isn’t about pretending life won’t have hard moments. It’s about not inventing them when they aren’t there. It’s about allowing yourself to enjoy the good when it comes, without fearing it will be snatched away.

Where in your life do you resist trusting the good? Let’s talk about it. 💛

Deepen Your Practice

If this resonates with you, join me as a paying subscriber for access to six exclusive workshops per year and our entire archive of mindset and healing practices. Together, we’ll explore powerful tools to help you move through fear, cultivate ease, and step into a life of greater trust and flow.

to gain full access!