Living with anxiety is an exhausting ordeal. The constant fixation on what can happen next in life is something that can isolate you from enjoying anything you have in the present. The human mind is the most powerful thing in the world; if anxiety is a real issue for you, you know how delusional your anxiety can be if you reflect on it.
I had a long period of time in my life where I had a doomsday scenario stuck in my head for every circumstance I have ever been in. They never came true, and I would look back on everything and think about what a massive waste of time it was to spend an entire day, week, or even month, dreading a specific event and thinking of every bad outcome.
The greatest thing that has ever happened to me was to have teachers in my life show me what it meant to grow aware of what your mind is telling you. That means to pump the brakes on your freight train brain that has been going for the past hour, genuinely look at what your mind is telling you and ask yourself if there is any truth to it? What helps tenfold is to bring your thinking to someone you trust and analyze it with them.
What if I told you anxiety isn’t always a bad thing? There are strengths to being someone who suffers from anxiety and ways to channel it into something great for yourself.
Here are some tips to take advantage of your anxiety
Accepting Your Anxiety
I wish I had some magical pearls of wisdom to give you that would eliminate anxiety from your life. Anxiety is going to happen. It’s going to make your heart race a little bit, but once it does, you have an option of catching it, taking a look at it, and if the thought is hot trash, go and throw it away and move on.
Of course, this takes practice but thoughtfully acknowledge that you know anxiety is inevitable every day. You are giving it less power when it actually occurs. Recognize that much of thoughts that enter your mind are just noise; let it go in one ear and out the other.
Anxiety Can Make You Grow Spiritually
Spending time analyzing what causes your anxiety and if there is any truth to it is actually a significant practice in living a spiritual life. Having self-awareness about how you think/react and doing proactive work to change it for the better promotes spiritual growth.
I could argue that if it weren’t for anxiety, you wouldn’t have such a specific trait that you could pinpoint that needs improvement.
Anxiety Can Be A Helpful Reminder
Anxiety can often occur due to a deadline or getting a task done. It can be a particular bill that needs to be paid, an awkward phone call you need to make with someone at work, or you just need to clean your disgustingly messy apartment.
What strengthens anxiety over these types of things? You already know, procrastination. Do you know how your mind won’t stop racing about your mortgage being a week past due? Because it’s important.
The solution here is easy, stop putting things off. Do them right away, and you will be blown away at how different and incredible you feel from it. Being proactive is an anxiety assassin.
Anxiety Will Give You Energy
If you are a procrastinator, what do you think motivates you to finally take care of that thing at the last possible minute? Your Anxiety! As I said before, acting on it faster will save you from stress.
The longer we put off something, the more we bottle up that super anxious energy; that’s not a fun road to walk down. Instead, Get whatever needs to be done in half the time you would usually delay it, and you may only get half of that nervous energy, but hey, you get some peace of mind!
Anxiety Can Bring Balance In Life
As you’re reading this, doesn’t the idea of addressing your anxiety by either being proactive or simply looking at it as a passerby sound great? I hope so because it isn’t the hardest thing to start doing. Hard to master, however.
Acting on the things you are anxious over can put you in a groove of being responsible, happy, and productive. If you are taking care of yourself and doing the right things as a response to entering an anxiety tornado, they will get weaker every day that passes.
We all have different understandings of what a balanced life is because we live different lives with different circumstances. Whatever balance may mean to you personally, prioritizing the things you get anxious about is the key to a better state of being.
