Anxiety Tricks of the Trade

Most of us want the feelings or symptoms to just “stop” but in order to regulate our emotions, we have to accept that they are happening.  Denial leads us to be confused about what we are feeling compared to what we want to be feeling.  Feelings are just that “feelings”.  They are not facts and do not have to dictate what we do.  Accepting your feelings may be difficult but it increases your sense of courage and builds your strength in self.  Psychology Today posted an article recently (May/June 2021) on anxiety that shared “Emotions are good consultants but lousy CEO’s.  Consider their input but don’t let them take charge”.  This is a very powerful statement about control.  Your emotions can give you great information but they should not be the only source.  Consider consulting with other sources such as your goals, values, experience, logic, google, friends, etc.  Take in all this information and make an informed decision on your best course of action.  Consider:

But what do I do with all these symptoms?  Consider improving your tolerance of temporary discomfort.  Remember, what you cannot tolerate now will result in suffering later.  Some simple ways to prepare for potential anxiety can also work when we are actively experiencing anxiety; but you have to be willing to invest in wanting things to change.  Consider:

There are many ways to consider managing anxiety.  Acceptance is usually the first round of any process.  What you tend to resist only becomes more apparent.  Consider adding 1 or more of these tips to your repertoire and see if you can get better control of your responses.