Brace for Impact

Metaphorical Narrative

It’s that split-second when headlights flare, or a shadow lunges, and your whole body locks. Shoulders tense, stomach knots, breath halts. You brace for impact.

And then… nothing. The car doesn’t hit. The punch never lands. The moment passes, but your body is left trembling, flooded with adrenaline, as if it fought a battle it never actually entered. That emptiness after the storm — that’s the trap. You paid the full cost of survival for an event that never came.

Core Insight

Your body doesn’t wait for evidence. It reacts to the possibility of harm, burning energy like the crash already happened. That’s why exhaustion creeps in before the real challenge ever begins. You’re not weak — you’re drained by the rehearsal of disasters that never arrive.

Freedom starts by catching the mismatch: calm outside, chaos inside. The tension is not proof of danger, just proof of a hijack. You don’t have to fight smoke. You can step back, breathe, and save the strength for when life actually calls.

Saturday Experiment

Next time you feel the brace:

1. Spot it. Shoulders up? Stomach tight? Breath on hold? That’s the phantom hit.
2. Discharge it. Shake it out, stretch, exhale audibly — let the body know the blow never came.
3. Reclaim energy. Tell yourself: “Not my fight. Not this time.”

Sunday Reflection

Journal in third person:

• What moment this week made their body brace for impact?
• Did the blow ever come, or was it a phantom?
• How much energy could be saved if they stopped rehearsing collisions that never happen?