Friend, I want to tell you something that took me way too long to learn: anxious and excited feel almost identical in the body. Same racing heart. Same tight chest. Same “something is about to happen” energy running through you. Your nervous system genuinely cannot always tell the difference. What decides which one you’re actually experiencing? The story you tell yourself about it.
You can be standing at the exact same threshold — a new job, a hard conversation, a leap of faith God’s nudging you toward — and one voice in you says “this is going to go wrong” while another says “this is going to be good.” Both voices show up. But you only get to feed one.
Philippians 4:6-7 doesn’t say “never feel anxious.” It says “be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Notice the order — it doesn’t erase the feeling, it redirects it. You take the same racing heart and you hand it to God instead of handing it to fear. Same energy. Different destination.
I think about 2 Timothy 1:7 a lot: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” That spirit of power was already available to you in that anxious moment. It didn’t need you to feel calm first. It needed you to lean toward it instead of away from it.
So here’s your gentle nudge today, friend: next time your heart starts racing before something — a phone call, a decision, a new season — pause and ask yourself, “Which one am I feeding right now?” You don’t have to wait for the anxious feeling to disappear before you choose excitement. You just have to lean the other direction while it’s still there. That’s the whole move. That’s the whole muscle you’re building.
With so much love,
Momma J 🤍
P.S. — if you’re in a season where anxious thoughts keep grabbing the wheel, Still, Small Voice and Grace Unfolding were both built to help you find that stillness. And I’d love to hear on Instagram @mommajscozycottage — which one are you leaning into today?
Leave a Reply