Self-Sufficiency Syndrome in the Workplace #2

Last time, I told you about my extreme self-sufficiency and how it finally resulted over time in my having panic attacks. Today, as I speak around the country on this subject, so many come up to me afterwards and tell me they too – have panic attacks but they have medication for them and they’re forging on.

Hello!! If you are one of these, I hope you’ll hear me when I ask, have you ever thought that just possibly, those panic attacks MIGHT have been your “wake-up call”? That like me, you had pushed yourself almost to the breaking point – but you got a reprieve in the form of a panic attack? Not a heart attack or a stroke, but a panic attack!

Today I can laugh as I look back on that gift the universe gave me. I who had to be in control of everything and everybody. So what do I receive that might get my attention? A panic attack that causes me to feel totally and completely OUT of control – the most frightening experiences(3) I have ever had.

Yep, that did it for me! I wanted to know why this had happened and what I could do to make sure it never happened again.

That’s been quite a journey. The end result? I’ve come to know who I am, what I believe, where I’m going and why I’m here. Talk about receiving a gift. There was a time when I would have taken the medication for the panic attack and gone on too – just to get to work, hold a job and feed my kids.  

Am I happy that panic attack caught me on a day when I made the decision to find out “why”? You bet!

Hugs,

Peggy Collins

Author of Help Is Not a Four-Letter Word: Why Doing It All Is Doing You In