3 Ways to Stop Anxiety From Messing Up Your Life

Do you have regrets about your anxieties causing lost opportunities in your life? If you are like most people, the answer to this question is a resounding, "Yes!" Do any of the following situations sound familiar?

• You feel inhibited to truly be yourself in social situations.
• You wanted to pursue a certain job, or career, or even a promotion, but sold yourself short by telling yourself you weren't good enough.
• You overly soothe your anxiety by overeating, drinking too much, or escaping into screens to the extent that you struggle with your current obligations and responsibilities.
• You wanted to pursue a certain dating situation or relationship but fear overtook you with negative self-talk that you would be rejected.
• You are afraid to ask for a raise at work even though you have more than earned it.
• Even though you have been responsible, you denied yourself a desired purchase because you felt too insecure to buy it.
• You wanted to tell someone how you really feel (positive or negative) but you don't trust your own heartfelt words enough.

We all get anxious. Our anxious vigilance stems back to our ancient ancestors because in the harrowing environments in which they lived, scary beasts like predators or aggression from others of their species could mean injury or death.

Anxiety Starts Early in Children and Teens and Feels Crushing to Them

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), anxiety disorders affect 25.1% of children between 13 and 18 years old. Tragically, unhealthy levels of anxiety that we experience as children and teens can follow us into our adult years.

Keeping Anxiety Out of Your Way

Here are three ways to help you contain your anxiety and manage it:

1. Stop Thinking You "Shouldn't" Feel Anxious

Remember that being alive means feeling some anxiety. It may sound counterintuitive, but the more you realize you don't need to be free of it, the more that you can just simply notice it and name it.

Even going one step further, and disclosing your anxiety to others, within reason, often reflects more positively on you in the eyes of others. That is because it makes you more relatable.

2. When You Think "What If," Reframe Those Two Words With This Eight-Word Question

Realizing how “what-ifs” can really get your mind racing, you can use the power of "What is the worst thing that can happen?" to slow them down. Usually, the worst thing that can happen is not so bad after all.

Here’s an example to help you get started: What if I lose my job?

"The worst thing that could happen is I will have to look for another job, which may be more suited to balancing the current demands in my life. And even if it ends up taking me longer than I'd like to get a new job, it helps to remind myself about those times in the past when I have discovered ways to cope in really hard times. Actually, now thinking about this all more reasonably, I think I am going to proactively speak to my boss and see if there is something we can work out to make this current situation more manageable for me."

3. Try Journaling Your Most Troubling Upsetting, Intrusive Thoughts

There is a magic that comes when we identify those thoughts that really get to us and write them down. When you write down your upsetting thoughts, you may feel less trapped by them.

Source; https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/liking-the-child-you-love/202203/3-ways-stop-anxiety-messing-your-life

Reflection on this article;

• Anxiety sometimes prevents us from doing things we would like to do
• A certain degree of anxiety is normal.
• There are ways to curb your anxiety and cope with it better.

What helps you cope with your anxiety?

#Anxiety #MentalHealth