(Part II) The Ins and Outs of Anxiety

Hi Hello, Here it goes!

Swinging back to the beastly nature of anxiety, it can plague us subconsciously. We can wake up anxious with no set reason for the awkward sensation. We can be tasked to being productive members of society all the while crawling out of our skin due to a possible outcome, regardless of its slim probability of coming to fruition. Anxiety can topic hop, meaning it can shift from one concern to another. Just because the situation seemingly driving the nervousness has passed does not mean the anxiety lays itself to rest.

Anxiety chains us to the future without room for the present.

No wonder children’s mental health books color anxiety to be an icky-looking monster. We all wish it were as easy as drawing it out and crumpling it up, never to be seen again.
Our logical minds reiterate worrying will not change the outcome.

We have little to no control on how our experiences play out. Sure, we can plan for roughly 10-30 different outcomes, however most of the actual outcomes are unrelated to our thoughtful blueprints. Perhaps that’s the beef we have with being human. We were left out of the metaphorical contract of who gets the power. Good grief, we are kind of obsessed with it after all.
Imagine a world where power was appropriately delegated to fit in our narratives.

Those who worked hard would reap benefits.
Those who dreamed big would achieve big goals.
Money would be no issue.
Weather would be controlled by properly trained meteorologist wizards.
Sound a bit like a fairy tale?

We lack control and we resent that about reality. I cannot blame us, building resiliency is no easy feat to the onslaught of experiences outside of our power or control. This resentment projects itself into the form of anxiety, a narrative that dictates if we hyper focus on the outcome hard enough or long enough, maybe, just maybe, it’ll give us the sensation of power.

I’m sorry folks. No Hogwarts for us in this reality.
So, instead…

Meet yourself where you are. Validate the underlying purpose of your anxiety. When I say validate, I mean outwardly identify how your anxiety is trying to serve you. In many cases, this anxiety is trying to serve as a cloak of protection away from circumstances that could cause pain. We typically have experienced a version of pain before, and we would do almost anything to secure our well-being. Even if it means sabotaging the well-being of our mindset.
Ask yourself if your thought process is geared toward problem solving or rumination. Are you reacting or responding to your environment?  Are you triggered by something that is haunting you from the past?

Anxiety generates in the form of energy within our bodies. Ask yourself how you can release this energy through safe outlets. Whether it be through running, walking, gardening, painting, scribbling, etc. It is within your power to find an outlet that works for you. 
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I see you, my anxious friends.
I am proud of how you lean on your resilience.