There are hundreds of things I’d rather do than go to the grocery store. Visit the dentist and cleaning bathrooms are on that long list, and you can be sure I don’t enjoy either of those tasks. If it weren’t such a necessary thing, I’d probably find a way to limit my trips to once a month. Fun fact: I have been known to stop for groceries at the local pharmacy and gas station. As I type this, our available food options are lean.

Some of you will read this and be perplexed because you LOVE going to the grocery store. I esteem you. I wish I could be like you. Some of you will so get this with me. You also have an unexplainable aversion to the grocery store. I think I should clarify my position. Going to the grocery store means I need to have some idea how all my purchases will come together to become meals. That’s the part that paralyzes me.

I build up this loathsome trip in my mind until it achieves “creepy river monster” status. The grocery store run becomes some insurmountable task in my mind. Even as I drive to the store, there is positive self-talk happening. You can do this, Alyssa. You have a list. You can get in and out in under and hour.

After surviving the aisles and successfully returning with meal potential items, it’s common for me to think the experience wasn’t so bad. The build up and fretting is far worse than the actual task. It is amazing and alarming the places I can go in my mind that don’t come close to matching up with reality.

If you’re facing a grocery store fear, a health or relationship challenge, or any manner of scary thing, can I encourage you? Tell someone about your silent struggle. The mind quickly becomes a prison for fear and a manufacturer of big and scary. Once you reveal the struggle {to a trusted someone} it loses power over you. Suddenly, the snake we were sure we saw on the floor in the dark is revealed as a jump rope in the light.

Regarding my grocery store aversion, I started asking my husband to help me create a grocery list. I discovered the list was my real obstacle. On my own, I had the same three meals on repeat. Even I was getting sick of chalupas! Once I shared my need, the task didn’t feel near as overwhelming. I still don’t love the store and I’m not sure I ever will, but now I have a plan for slaying the beast!

If you have a mountain in front of you and feel stuck, consider taking a step of vulnerability. Find a trusted friend, verbalize the thing that has you paralyzed in fear, and invite them to help you consider the fear from a different angle. Ask for help. After all, we weren’t meant to carry our burdens alone. I’m not suggesting that you will magically love the thing you are wrestling with, but I am saying fear will loosen its grip on you.

#MomentofTruthMonday #LifeLesson #Encouragement #amwriting