Anxiety
What do you do when all your thinking
And all your worrying
Makes you so tense and so nervous
You cant sleep properly?
What do you do
When you feel indescribable panic
And you cant really tell anyone
Because it makes you feel silly and worthless?
How do you tell your body
And your mind
To stay calm
When your heart is racing
And your thoughts feel so important?
First,
It is important to remember that anxiety is trying to protect you
Strange as it may seem, anxiety is your friend
Keeping you safe
Without it, humans would not survive
Second,
Its important to understand the essential ingredients of anxiety:
1) Imagining something bad will happen to you
2) Imagining that you will not cope at all when that thing happens
But you can cope
You have coped many times before
So is this really the best use
Of your wonderful rich imagination?
Third,
Acknowledge that your excessive anxiety has probably helped you a lot through your life
Made you conscientious
Helped you get to places on time
Helped you remember to think about other people’s feelings
So we do not want to get rid of it completely
But we do not want anxiety to get so strong
That you cant rest and enjoy the moment
Or you avoid doing things
Or worse
Engage in habits and behaviours
That only serve to make you more anxious in the long run
The good news is
Anxiety is a very common problem
And a lot of research has gone into working out ways of managing it
So you may as well tap into that rich pool of knowledge
And you never know
You might learn a thing or two about yourself in the process