There’s a reason new beginnings feel threatening,even when they should feel exciting.

It’s called anticipation anxiety —✧ A nervous system response that treats the unknown as dangerous✧ Often triggered by past disappointment, trauma, or prolonged stress✧ You lose the ability to emotionally project positive outcomes — even if they’re possible

This is linked to a pattern called positive projection decay:✧ When your mind used to imagine joy, success, connection✧ But now imagines failure, pain, or nothing at all✧ You stop dreaming forward — you only plan to survive

You may also experience:✧ Future fatigue (“why bother?”)✧ Identity pause (“I don’t know who I’d be if things changed”)✧ Freeze response in moments of choice or opportunity

🧠 Why it happens:✧ Your nervous system remembers past letdowns more vividly than hope✧ It builds protection around you by muting forward motion✧ But it accidentally mutes aliveness too

💡 The shift begins not with a leap — but with a flicker.✧ A small risk✧ A soft beginning✧ A memory of a time you felt lit up — even if it was just trying on an outfit for your first day

That spark isn’t gone.It’s just waiting for safety to stop being your only setting.

✧ soft anchor:

You don’t need to be fearless.You just need to remember that joy is worth moving toward again.

🌒 return to memory:

→ read: i used to be excited for what’s next→ reflect: when wonder turns into fear

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