Processing the Reality Check

You looked. Now we process.

Reactions

How do you feel having looked?

Common reactions:

• Relief (finally knowing)
• Shame (numbers are worse than hoped)
• Surprise (different than expected, in either direction)
• Numbness (hard to register)
• Anxiety (what to do now?)

All reactions are valid. Don’t judge your reaction. Just notice it.

The Shift

The act of looking changes things, even if the numbers don’t change.

Before looking: vague dread, avoidance, energy spent not-knowing. After looking: specific knowledge, reduced dread, energy available for something else.

The not-knowing often felt worse than the knowing. This is almost universally true. People imagine disasters in the fog of avoidance. Reality, even difficult reality, is usually more workable than imagined catastrophe.

Today’s Practice

Write responses to these questions:

• How do you feel having looked?
• Were there surprises?
• Was it as bad as you feared, better, or different?
• What’s one thing you notice now that you couldn’t notice when you weren’t looking?

Also: Do you feel any relief from having looked? Even if the numbers are difficult?