Hack Your Anxiety With This One Little Trick
Every single person on this planet has been in the grips of anxiety at some point (Have you ever seen a baby scream for milk?! They’re anxious as ever thinking they’ll never drink again). Every single person has been there. We came into this world kicking, screaming and fighting or flighting. Don’t be fooled by those putting on a happy front either (social media does a good job of tricking us here), they have all had their fair share of moments too.
Spoiler Alert: We’re all humans trying to deal with all that life throws our way, in hopes of finding some form of happiness, peace + love along the way. With everything going on in the world, we’re more stressed and anxious than we’ve ever been, but we don’t need to live this way. We can make small changes and establish mindful habits that can alleviate our thoughts + help us move through life a little lighter.
First off, it’s important to know that a little, tiny bit of anxiety is actually healthy. Can you imagine having zero worries? You’d be complacent AF—not caring about anything, anyone and definitely not getting anything done. It’s your anxiety over an upcoming work project that makes you take it seriously and put in more effort to perfect it. It’s a mother’s anxiety over her child’s health that keeps her pestering the doctor to order that lifesaving test. So, let’s bust the myth that says it’s horrible. As with everything, too much of anything is when it gets messy.
Anxiety becomes a problem when it balloons from that little voice in your ear who keeps a healthy check on you to the psychotic wooly mammoth who takes you hostage and absolutely cripples you.
So, here’s the hack i use when my mind is racing, my lungs are tight and I feel like my world is crashing down on me:
1. Identify what is causing you worry and write it down in just 1 sentence.
2. Write down the absolute worst case scenario that could happen (this step is really important).
3. Accept the fall out of the worst thing. If the worst thing does happen, how will you move past it? Since you’ve broken it down in steps 1-2, you’ll be able to think through the worst case scenario more logically. Studies show that when you identify what your anxiety is telling you is “the worst thing ever” or “the end of the world”, you’re giving your mind the chance to face your fears and release it’s choke hold. The worst thing may never even happen, but knowing that you have a plan to deal with it will set your mind at ease.
Let’s chat a little more about #3 because it can be a process depending on what you’re going through. We don’t give ‘the worst thing’ power. Instead, we want to take back our power from it by telling ourselves that even ‘the worst thing’ is just ONE of million events in your life. Life will still go on. What you imagine is the end of the world today, is anything but that. Years later when you look back on it, you will have the gift of hindsight. You will realize that it was just a chapter in your life. It is none the less an important moment in your life, as it is the hard, painful moments that mold you. YOU CANNOT CHANGE IT. IT IS WHAT IT IS. BE BRAVE, ACCEPT it and LEARN from it.
Remember, you can’t stop the waves from crashing down...but, you can learn to surf 🏄♀️
