Anxiety Advantages

When anxiety is in full swing it's hard to imagine any positives about the horrible sensations you feel. However, digging deep in your mind you will find that anxiety brings an opportunity to grow. 

When I was struggling terribly with my anxiety between 2010-2012, I would constantly fight with the tensions I had. I still working at it today but I'm making a gradual slope up. At the time, however I thought 'thinking' my fears away would be good use of my time, but in fact it made it all the worse.

Things began to change slightly in 2012. I wanted to get on top of my feelings so I made a motivational board, giving me a woosh of positivity and purpose. I made my motivation board a physical one which I could look at regularly which I still update it to match my current progress to help stay in-tune. I have also linked my Pinterest board for any inspiration:

http://www.pinterest.com/myhopestree/motivation-positivity/

I really took 'Inspire a generation' in my own stride with a relaxing hobby rather than a traditional sport - knitting. I had begun a simply ball of white wool which I knitted top to bottom without a particular pattern in mind. It was uneven and lumpy, representing a Father Christmas shaped beard, but I enjoyed it, calming my breathing down to a rate I hadn't felt in what seemed a lifetime.

2013, enough was enough. I referred myself for some therapy, and was given a self-help style programme with tailored-to-fit modules, which gave me structure to turn my life back around.

I came to learn about mindfulness, using the present to calm the mind and live life more to the full. I am learning to slow down and take breaks for myself and knowing that when I'm over-doing it my body is usually telling me that through my anxiety.

I have been able to develop a more easy-going mindset and be a bit more kind to myself which has decreased anxiety levels and allow me to take my time to relax whenever I do feel on edge.

2014, I have started yoga. It has been something I have wanted to do for a longtime and it's another positive thing to add to my journey of personal growth. It has been a great way to relax and unwind as well as strengthening core muscle groups, resulting in the ultimate feel good factor. 

My goal for the rest of the year is to do more things I want to do, the things that have been left out while my anxiety has got in the way: new hobbies, new styles, new career, making time for the hobbies I already enjoy... 

But today is Valentines Day and I'm happy. And that's not to with any cards or chocolates and romantic gestures because I haven't had any this year but I'm making the most of having the trains cancelled from the flooding, being a little bit ill and having some self-love day, staying in bed and rejuvenating. 

Oddly all this positivity has stemmed from a bit of anxiety. 

Zoë

(Look out for my Anxiety Story on the blog Tiny Buddha where I talk about Practice, Patience and Perseverance: Trust You're Making Progress. Coming soon in April.)

 

Overcoming vulnerable moments of suffering...

"Discovering the light of hope"

Vulnerability is when you are exposed to your fears. This may not be a direct exposure, but there is that possible chance that your fears could get in your way at these given moments.These fears can span from just a small scale, such as social phobia’s or large scale fears of ill health or death. As people we fear many things and no matter how big or small they are, they can seem the size of mountains. We want to appear strong in the eyes of our peers, families and friends. We don’t want to be weak.

Even if we disgust the fears that we have, they can still eat up us away if we let them. It is only our minds that can tell us how we feel and what we do and we can change our approaches if life can seem unbearable, particularly if we are fed up of suffering.  We suffer in different ways. We may have had a hard childhood, been bullied and stripped of self confidence or suffer from invisible conditions such as depression or anxiety. We may be trying to overcome losing weight or give up smoking.

I’ve been an anxiety sufferer; It can take a certain event to swallow you up into this dark hole. And though sometimes it has become unclear about what triggered this dark cloud, I know that my life was much more brighter when it wasn’t around. You could over think until you find an answer but even that can just make the problem worse and even contribute to a general over thinking problem.I’m a fighter but it let it bother me, because I was trying to so hard to make it right. Sometimes you have to do the opposite.

I have taken up knitting and I have felt more at peace with myself then I have ever have. My mind has been freed, unlocking my thoughts and peeling apart meanings that I have never understood. 

When we at our lowest, we have to believe that things will get better, even if that light of hope in the distance is the size of a pin prick. One positive thought is enough to get your started, even that is just a smile that feels fake on the sadness of your face. We think that we are the ones that are suffering. We feel that someone is out to get us, who has chosen us to suffer, but isn’t that really a gift, we have chosen to make a unwanted burden? If you hadn’t suffered, then you wouldn’t be that stronger person you are today.

My metaphor is: Life is like knitting. It can unravel or get knotted up at the most unexpected times and lead you to a dead end. If you pick up the wool and start from again, you may achieve the harmony in your life that you may not have had if you hadn’t stumbled. 

So not matter what you are suffering from, find something that you enjoy enough to distract you from your problem. You will realise that you are not alone and your problem is probably smaller than you think it is, because you can most likely do something about it. 

Take your fears and problems and split them into two categories:

1)   I can do something about this problem

2)   I can’t do anything about it, I just need to accept it and move on.

I know that a lot of people would want to choose the latter even they could do something to change it, because it is the easiest, but if you think about it,wouldn’t you achieve more if you take some patience and work for that harder number 1 solution?

Take those vulnerable idle moments and turn them around. Embrace these moments as an extra push to help improve and eventually you find where you want to go.

It's the constant effort that gets you through.