Anxieties Truth

Feeling fear is as natural to us as hearing our names. As toddlers, we learned to fear the basics: “Be careful! Don’t touch that, it’s hot! Don’t run or you will fall! Watch out for cars or they will hit you! Don’t talk to strangers, you can’t trust them.” We learned three important things about fear. First, we learned how to anticipate fear. Second, we learned that anticipating fear kept us safe. Third, we learned that if fear kept us safe, then fear was necessary and good. In other words, we were trained to think anxiously.

  At that time in our lives all three things were true, but we became so accustomed to fear that we didn’t notice when it became negative. I believe that all habitual behaviors are based in fear. None of us are born with habits, we learn them.

Fear is at the root of Anxiety. Some people are convinced that anxiety does not affect them. They worry about things and sometimes lose sleep. They ask, “is that anxiety?” “Yes,” I say. It is.

Anxiety is a physical response to a fearful thought or belief projected into the future. Fear of future is a belief that something, “bad” will happen. We create anxiety by imagining how future events can or will go wrong. We focus on these made-up episodes until our stomachs twist, and our hearts race and we cannot breathe.

 We swirl in fear and see only negative outcomes. We think, If I do this, then that will happen, and if that happens, then this will happen, and if…. Our imagined scenarios feel real. The anxiety created from fear of future can cause panic attacks that bring symptoms ranging from loss of sleep, simple internal jitters, and emotional meltdowns so severe that we cannot function.

The good news is that; we all have the power to heal. Our habits are a learned way of thinking and practice. We can learn new habits. Fear, anxiety, negative self-talk, gossip, and judgment are all linked. By practicing daily exercises designed to change our habit of fearful thinking we can heal this harmful pattern.

Three simple steps will stop an anxiety attack:

1.     Get present by focusing on breath coming in and out of the body.

2.     Repeat the mantra, “in this moment I am safe.”

3.     Smile

These three steps will absolutely stop the progression of anxiety. Once we are out of anxiety, we can focus on gratitude. The practice of daily gratitude changes our focus from negative outcomes to happiness of what we have in this moment. If you suffer from anxiety, don’t worry. You can master it. There are countless books, free apps, yoga, prayer, martial arts and meditation to help keep us present, the opposite of anxiety.