The Fake Fight That Drains You

Metaphorical Narrative

Imagine stepping into a boxing ring only to realize your opponent is smoke. You swing, dodge, and brace for impact that never comes. Every jab lands into empty air, every muscle fiber burns with wasted effort. The crowd is silent because there is no crowd. By the time a real challenger steps up, you’re already doubled over, panting, drained by the battle against nothing.

This is the body’s cruel joke — a trigger hijacks your system, fires the alarm, and floods you with adrenaline for a fight that doesn’t exist.

Core Insight

Adrenaline is meant for survival, not rehearsal. When it spikes in false alarms, your body treats imagination as war. The heart races, muscles tense, and the nervous system spends its fuel. That’s why when real action comes, you feel tired before you even begin. You didn’t fail — you were ambushed by a phantom fight.

The key isn’t to fight harder, but to notice when the surge doesn’t match the scene. If the room is calm but your body is storming, that’s the tell. You don’t owe the phantom a single punch.

Saturday Experiment

Catch the surge. The next time adrenaline hijacks you:

1. Check the scene. Ask: is there an actual threat, or just noise in my head?
2. Release the charge. Move, shake, laugh, or breathe it out. Anything that discharges energy without feeding the phantom.
3. Save the reserves. Remind yourself: “Not my fight. I keep my strength for the real thing.”

Sunday Reflection

Have them journal in third person:

• What “fake fight” did their body start this week?
• How quickly did they spot the mismatch between inner storm and outer calm?
• What new strength could be preserved if they stopped boxing shadows?