☕Left-brain teacher, could you take a break? A story about bringing your mind back to the here and now when it has flown too far into the future due to anxiety

Hey, do you ever have days like this?

Days when nothing has happened yet, but your mind has already raced way ahead.

You have a new plan.
You have something unfamiliar to do.
You have a task that makes you a little nervous.

It's just that, but before you know it,
you've already gone through the actual event in your head multiple times.

And usually, it's mostly failure scenarios.

Why?

It hasn't even started yet.
You're still at home.
In fact, you're just having a cup of tea right now.

Only your brain has arrived at the destination ahead of time.

Wait.
Who gave you permission to leave?

And in your brain,
you've reached the first day,
failed,
felt awkward,
and even gone home to hold a post-mortem meeting.

Too fast.
The development is way too fast.

Here in the real world, nothing has happened yet.

Yet in your head,
a screening of future anxieties has begun.

And it's strangely realistic, too.

Heart pounding.
Stomach feeling restless.
Shoulders tensed up.
Breathing a bit shallow.

No, I don't need the realism.

I don't want to watch a movie.
I just want to live my day normally.

☕It's not the anxiety itself, but the repeat playback that's exhausting

It seems that the initial reaction of anxiety itself isn't something that lasts forever.

I once heard from a neuroscientist that
emotional reactions themselves generally subside in a short amount of time.

Then why does it last so long?

That's it.

That is exactly it.

The problem might not be the anxiety itself, but rather
the fact that your head keeps going back to look at the same anxiety over and over again.

Will I be okay?
Can I do this properly?
Will I say something weird?
Will I get too tired?
Will my relationships be okay?
What if I'm not cut out for this?

Once one worry appears,
the next worry somehow slips right into the room.

I didn't invite you.

Please, party of worries, do not come in with a group reservation.

This is Cafe Miracle, a place for healing,
not a banquet hall for anxiety.

But they come anyway, don't they?

And what's more, Mr. Left Brain is showing them to their seats so diligently.

This way for the past failure seat.
This way for the future anxiety seat.
Today, we have prepared a course of worries that haven't even happened yet.

Stop it.

I didn't order that course.

☕The problem of Mr. Left Brain being too hardworking

Mr. Left Brain probably isn't a bad guy.

He is thinking for me.
He is trying to protect me.
He is predicting future dangers based on past data.

I understand that.

Thank you.
Really, thank you.

But.

You are working a bit too hard.

Pulling up memories from the past,
lining up worries about the future,
and unilaterally screening trailers for events that haven't even started yet—
could you please stop that for a moment?

And that trailer, by the way.

It's mostly the anxiety-inducing kind.

The screen is dark.
The music is heavy.
The protagonist, me, is usually in trouble.

Seriously, is there malice in the editing?

Please, could you go for a slightly more light and fluffy edit?

If possible, maybe you could
serve some pancakes in the middle of it.

Even though it's a movie theater inside my brain,
for some reason, it only ever screens films that make my stomach clench.

Couldn't we have
a few episodes that make my heart feel light, too?

Mr. Left Brain.

I appreciate your dedication to your work.
But you are overworked.

And I am stuck working overtime along with you.

☕There are days when you just can't return to the here and now

People say it all the time, don't they?

Let's return to the here and now.
Let's take a deep breath.
Let's let go of overthinking.
Let's look at our anxiety objectively.

Yeah.

I get it.

It's absolutely correct.

I know that's correct.

If I could do that right away, I probably wouldn't be in this much trouble right now.

I want to come back, too.
I want to return to the here and now.

But my head is away on a business trip to the future.
My heart tends to open files of past failures.
Only my body is left behind, all alone in the present.

What is this split-shift work style?

Everyone, please assemble.

I am here.

Please don't leave me, who is here right now, behind.

There are days when I feel that way.

I don't think people who overthink are
just worrywarts.

I want to do things properly.
I don't want to fail.
I don't want to be a burden.
I don't want to ruin the atmosphere.
I want to prepare as far in advance as possible.

Because I have those feelings,
I think my head gets ahead of itself.

So, you don't have to blame yourself for overthinking.

But, it's exhausting when it's exhausting.

After all, even though nothing has happened yet,
I've already tired myself out many times inside my brain.

Even though I haven't done it once in reality,
I've already rehearsed it dozens of times in my heart.

Before the actual event, my heart is already worn out.

Wait a minute.

Isn't that energy distribution a bit off?

☕Right-brain, were you in charge of the here and now?

At times like that, I suddenly remembered a story.

Roughly speaking,
the left brain seems to have the function of putting things into words, analyzing, and thinking about the past and the future.

On the other hand, it is said that the right brain is involved in the sensations of the present moment, physical sensations, and how we perceive space.

Of course, I cannot speak about the brain in a professional capacity.

Since I am not an expert,
I have no plans to appear here wearing a lab coat.

It wouldn't suit me anyway.

But when I heard this story,
I felt a sense of deep understanding.

Ah, my Dr. Left Brain
has been going back and forth between the future and the past all this time.

Thinking about things that haven't happened yet,
pulling up similar memories from the past,
worrying about what to do if this happens,
worrying about what to do if that happens,
I think it has been holding meetings in my head the whole time.

And they are long meetings, too.

The agenda is heavy.

There are so many documents.

The atmosphere in the meeting room is heavy as well.

Why don't we open a window for some fresh air?

In contrast to that,
the feeling of returning to the here and now
is probably difficult to achieve just by persuading yourself in your head.

Come back to the here and now.

Yes, I have returned.

It doesn't really work like that.

If it were such an obedient system,
I would have returned long ago.

The problem is that I want to return, but I can't.

And then, blaming yourself for not being able to return,
and your heart getting tired all over again.

☕In my case, that meant saying 'I'm home' to NOTE.

For a while now, I've been a bit away from NOTE.

I have the desire to write.
But my heart is restless because of things on the outside,
and for some reason, I can't seem to return.

That's how it felt.

Should I write?
But I'm not settled.
Maybe I'll stop for today.
No, but I have a streak of posts to keep up.
But I don't feel like I'm in the right headspace for that right now.

In that way,
small meetings were being held in my heart over and over again.

Another meeting.

How many meetings are you going to have?

I could fill a whole book just with the minutes.

But today, I posted an article for the first time in a while.

I came back to NOTE, saying 'I'm home.'

And then, you know,
my heart felt a little lighter.

It was strange.

It's not like any big problem was solved.
It's not like my schedule disappeared.
It's not like my anxiety became zero.

But, I returned a little bit.

Oh, I was here.
I was a person who writes words.
I truly possessed my own senses.

That's how it felt.

Pulled by outside schedules,
my heart, which had flown too far into the future,
might have returned to the here and now by writing words.

Posting to NOTE
wasn't just about putting out text.

For me, it was
about returning to my center.

☕Rather than erasing anxiety, have a place to return to

Becoming someone who never feels anxious is probably difficult.

Especially for those who are sensitive.
For those who overthink.
For those who read the room too much.
For those who try to sense things that haven't even happened yet.

When you try to make your anxiety zero,
you can sometimes end up feeling more anxious.

I shouldn't be anxious.
I shouldn't think about it.
I need to calm down.
I need to get it together.

The more I think that way,
the more Left-Brain Teacher stands up again in my mind.

Now then, let's begin the strategy meeting.

Wait.

I don't need a meeting right now.

Please give me some tea.

That's why I've been thinking lately.

Rather than becoming someone who never feels anxious,
it might be more important to have a place where you can return even if you do feel anxious.

It could be a notebook.
It could be a walk.
It could be cooking.
It could be Pilates.
It could be a planner.
It could be your favorite cafe.

It could be talking to someone.
It could be drinking a warm beverage.
It could be opening a window in your room.

A place where you can say 'I'm home' to your own senses.

A place that brings your mind back to the here and now,
when it has flown too far into the future.

Having a few places like that
is something you should do.

I think that isn't a sign of weakness,
but rather knowing how to take care of yourself.

☕So that your heart doesn't get left behind

Thinking is not a bad thing.

In fact, there are things you can protect because you can think.
There are things you can prepare for.
There are things you can notice.

But if you think too much, and
your heart, which is here right now, gets left behind,
it is okay to stop for a little while.

Where am I right now?

In the anxiety of the future?
In the failures of the past?
Or am I properly in today?

Try asking yourself that.

There are days when you cannot return.
There are days when you cannot calm down right away.
There are days when you end up thinking about the same thing over and over.

That is okay too.

After all, I am human.

Left-Brain Teacher,
Right-Brain friend,
my body,
and my heart,
everyone is trying their best to protect me.

It is just that, sometimes, the division of roles gets a bit intense.

Left-Brain Teacher tries too hard,
Right-Brain friend becomes quiet,
and my body is left behind in the present all by itself.

At times like that,
instead of blaming, I want to call them back.

Hey.
Everyone, come back.

Let's have some tea right here, right now.

Today, I came home to my NOTE,
and returned a little bit to my own center.

The anxiety has not completely disappeared yet.

But maybe it is okay if it does not disappear.

Even with the anxiety still there,
I can return to the here and now.

I can go and pick up my heart,
which has flown too far into the future, little by little.

And to myself, now that I've returned, I want to say this.
I want to say this to myself.

Welcome back.

I'm glad you made it back.

From here on out again,
let's live my life for today.

Left-Brain Teacher is probably a hard worker again today, though.

I think I'll have some tea with you once in a while,
and just relax here in the present.☕💗

☕Recommended articles to read together

This article is about a realization that suddenly came to me
after I wrote this article that I posted a little while ago.

I've really been feeling lately that building a healthy body isn't just about the body.

Eating, moving, and writing,
in the end, they might all be small paths back to making sure our hearts aren't left behind.

If you'd like, please read this one too.☺️

Building a body so your heart isn't left behind ⑥
I wanted to start a 'no-competing-on-weight' relaxed meal club

#CreativeAward2026 #EssayCategory #HSP #SensitivePerson #Overthinking #HowToDealWithAnxiety #HowToCalmTheMind #HereAndNow #ReturningToSelf #WroteOnNote #AyappeStyle #Essay #MindTalk #SelfUnderstanding #SelfCare #PowerOfWords #CafeLaMiracle