So I fired my anxiety…
It isn’t that I don’t still have moments of fear. My imagination is far too ginormous for that even when real life begs the question.
But anxiety in the past took far too much of my precious time and was living in the driver’s seat my my life in my childhood, resurfacing again in my late 20’s apparently so I could really practice what I preached way better.
And it worked. Now when fear creeps in and tries to stay for too long, it’s been a joy to have tools to move past it!
So today, if it’s robbing you too, I want to share a quick six step plan for getting your life back better than ever! If you need a printout of it, write me and I’ll send you a PDF for free here!
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Acknowledge your anxiety. Just don’t give your anxiety a long voice. Give it about five or ten minutes. In that five minutes, brainstorm what you could do about your worry situation. Sometimes action is actually needed. And in those five minutes, allow your worst case scenario to come to mind and then…
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Counter it with a positive thought that is true or a Bible verse on anxiety, since the Bible is full of amazing and encouraging verses about anxiety. There are literally hundreds so….
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Commit just one of them to memory or write it down neatly and place it somewhere you will see if often. Maybe it’s “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down but a good word makes it glad.” (Proverbs 12:25) or “Do not fear for I am with you, do not anxiously look about you. For I am your God and surely I will help you and uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10).
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Make a list and check it twice. Get in the habit of training your brain to move in a different direction by creating a list of your step-by-step events for today. It can be a long or a short list depending on how much you need to get done. Anxiety takes energy, so use any leftover nervous energy to clean your house and to organize your collection of mounting paperwork, for instance. Add working out to the list during the earlier portion of the day so your brain and your body will be nice and tired later in the night. Speaking of which…
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Spend some time in the late evening with calming activities such as reading, taking a hot bath, watching a feel-good show, having a yummy but moderately-sized snack, playing a game, or working on a favorite hobby.
And here’s the sixth and final bonus tip. Go to bed with a clean slate with God. If you are right with Him, this Scripture comforts like nothing else, “If God is for me, who can be against me?” (Romans 8:31). And He is for you as you approach Him with a thankful, humble heart!
So say some prayers, read your Bible, and talk to God about your fears, thinking on your fear-countering Scriptures again if you’re still awake. Then choose a more positive but probably not thrilling topic to lull you off to sleep aka read a really boring physics book or something else (and sorry if you find physics riveting – just trade that word with ‘romance novel’ and you’ll be snoozing in no time!!)
And if you’re still feeling bothered, we’re here to help! In fact our team of therapists and coaches have been known to think creatively outside the box for their clients’ hard-to-get-at issues!
Love Living Life Intentionally With You
Christa
