REFRESH THE SOUL

How Do You Handle a Nervous or Excited Gut Reaction?

Better Yet, Which One Is it — Nervousness or Excitement?

As I learn more about how I react when I’m nervous, I realize that I go into a mode of “need to do.” This revelation is my way to handle the nervous gut reaction I’m having. I turn to doing so I can stop thinking about the anxiety.

This reaction isn’t a terrible thing. It’s good to get your mind off things, especially if they’re pulling you into a rabbit hole of more anxiety.

It’s important to note that a nervous gut reaction is different than an excited gut reaction. Right? When you’re nervous, you have butterflies in your stomach. When you’re excited, you can have butterflies in your stomach, but it’s different. This nervous system reaction causes your body to go into fight or flight, raising your adrenaline and pushing out cortisol because your body is going into high-stress mode. You can have the same reaction when you have an excited gut reaction.

Think about it. Here are several scenarios:

1. You’re getting ready to give a speech to a large group of people. You have been preparing for days or weeks on your…