When your teacher or professor assigns homework, when your parents or your roommate ask you to clean up your room, or to look after some household chores—what’s up with that?
Perhaps your roomates want you to take responsibility for two meals a week. Or maybe you’ve made a commitment to yourself to exercise three times a week or walk six blocks a day.
How can challenges that seem worrying actually help reduce anxiety?
Anxiety is a huge issue for many of us with Asperger’s. There is no point in asking why we often see six thousand compounding facets in every single little incident in our lives, or why simple chores like washing the car or cleaning our rooms can morph into multi-day events.
The question is, why would we challenge ourselves with any of these responsibilities at all?
The answer is simple. By making demands of ourselves, and by disciplining ourselves to attempt to meet those demands, we give ourselves room and encouragement to grow.
By repeatedly doing simple manageable tasks we develop routines and a self-confidence which can serve us well when we encounter more complex issues.
When we attempt to accommodate another’s reasonable demands, we acquire and continually enhance the skill of determining exactly what is required of us.
And we practice discerning how best to initiate the task in the most efficient way so as to successfully complete it with the least stress … and perhaps even a certain degree of pleasure!
This translates into the essential life-skills of listening, comprehending, asking questions about the process when necessary, and successfully completing the task.
We are rewarded with the personal satisfaction which comes with the completion of any worthwhile accomplishment!
And the more that is asked of you, either by others or by yourself, the greater you will feel challenged.
But, the greater the challenge successfully met, the greater the personal satisfaction.
Challenges are not only necessary for our personal and professional growth, they are a fast-track to ensuring our lives remain interesting and fulfilling.
Margaret Jean 