I've suffered from anxiety and panic attacks for over 20 years. It kind of hit me out of nowhere when I was 19 (Did I just say how old I am? Eeek!!). I seriously lost my mind. It was one of the scariest things that happened to me in my life. Over the years I have learned to control it through medication and little tricks like redirection and just talking to people to distract myself.
The thing that I've become aware of is that there are so many different degrees of anxiety. It can be the smallest negative whisper in the back of your mind to a full blown heart racing, hyperventilating, pacing up and down the room attack. The first can easily and rather rapidly morph into the latter.
So, you take the chemical imbalance that is anxiety, and throw in the massive insecurity of being a writer (or any other type of artist), and you are really stuck with all kinds of negative and down right scary thoughts racing in and out of your mind all the time. Hmmm, I said "stuck", am I truly "stuck" with them?
My therapist had always talked about re-recording my inner voice, and turning it into a positive one. Now I am working with a writing group through Jenna Avery that focuses on accountability, and we are also focusing on turning those negative statements into positive ones. Then the other day tinybuddha tweeted an article by Lucy Pearce about overcoming anxiety, again pulling everything down to being present in the moment.
I think it is so easy to get caught up in all the negative news and information coming at you, that you can miss the positive ones that are mixed in there too. Controlling your mind is not any easy thing to do, but it is a possible one. Awareness is the first step, and then taking control from there. I am trying to find a way to turn my propensity for anxiety into self discipline. I'm not asking for much. LOL
Yet another message about anxiety came under my nose when Maria posted an excerpt from a letter F. Scott Fitzgerald sent is daughter while she was away at camp.
Things to worry about:
Worry about courage
Worry about Cleanliness
Worry about efficiency
Worry about horsemanship
Worry about. . .
Things not to worry about:
Don't worry about popular opinion
Don't worry about dolls
Don't worry about the past
Don't worry about the future
Don't worry about growing up
Don't worry about anybody getting ahead of you
Don't worry about triumph
Don't worry about failure unless it comes through your own fault
Don't worry about mosquitoes
Don't worry about flies
Don't worry about insects in general
Don't worry about parents
Don't worry about boys
Don't worry about disappointments
Don't worry about pleasures
Don't worry about satisfactions
Things to think about:
What am I really aiming at?
How good am I really in comparison to my contemporaries in regard to:
(a) Scholarship
(b) Do I really understand about people and am I able to get along with them?
(c) Am I trying to make my body a useful instrument or am I neglecting it?
The thing that I've become aware of is that there are so many different degrees of anxiety. It can be the smallest negative whisper in the back of your mind to a full blown heart racing, hyperventilating, pacing up and down the room attack. The first can easily and rather rapidly morph into the latter.
So, you take the chemical imbalance that is anxiety, and throw in the massive insecurity of being a writer (or any other type of artist), and you are really stuck with all kinds of negative and down right scary thoughts racing in and out of your mind all the time. Hmmm, I said "stuck", am I truly "stuck" with them?
My therapist had always talked about re-recording my inner voice, and turning it into a positive one. Now I am working with a writing group through Jenna Avery that focuses on accountability, and we are also focusing on turning those negative statements into positive ones. Then the other day tinybuddha tweeted an article by Lucy Pearce about overcoming anxiety, again pulling everything down to being present in the moment.
I think it is so easy to get caught up in all the negative news and information coming at you, that you can miss the positive ones that are mixed in there too. Controlling your mind is not any easy thing to do, but it is a possible one. Awareness is the first step, and then taking control from there. I am trying to find a way to turn my propensity for anxiety into self discipline. I'm not asking for much. LOL
Yet another message about anxiety came under my nose when Maria posted an excerpt from a letter F. Scott Fitzgerald sent is daughter while she was away at camp.
Things to worry about:
Worry about courage
Worry about Cleanliness
Worry about efficiency
Worry about horsemanship
Worry about. . .
Things not to worry about:
Don't worry about popular opinion
Don't worry about dolls
Don't worry about the past
Don't worry about the future
Don't worry about growing up
Don't worry about anybody getting ahead of you
Don't worry about triumph
Don't worry about failure unless it comes through your own fault
Don't worry about mosquitoes
Don't worry about flies
Don't worry about insects in general
Don't worry about parents
Don't worry about boys
Don't worry about disappointments
Don't worry about pleasures
Don't worry about satisfactions
Things to think about:
What am I really aiming at?
How good am I really in comparison to my contemporaries in regard to:
(a) Scholarship
(b) Do I really understand about people and am I able to get along with them?
(c) Am I trying to make my body a useful instrument or am I neglecting it?
F. Scott, daughter Scottie & Zelda
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