5 Positives of Anxiety

I put up a pole this week asking which blog post I should write next (which I found really fun btw). The two options were: 5 ways to manage anxiety or 5 positives to having anxiety and as you can see by the title of this post - positivity wins!

Before I get stuck in I wanted to announce that as I have hit my July target within a week I have decided that going forward I'm going to start uploading 2 blogs a week. One on a Wednesday and one on a Sunday. I’m so excited for this whole journey and being able to share my mind/thoughts with you all. I hope you'll come along this journey with me <3

So back to this post! This feels a little bit morbid because Anxiety is so not positive but roll with me, sometimes you've got to find a positive or it will consume you.  Little background info for you - I’ve had anxiety since I was a child. It’s been debilitating at times, prevented me from going for opportunities and really affected my studies (presentations are too much). I have written a post for Nicole Carman about my anxiety so head over there if you'd like a read about the history of my anxiety.  I know my anxiety pretty well now however sometimes it does blind side me. There aren't tonnes of positives to having anxiety (that I can think of) but sometimes I do find myself trying to find some type of silver lining to it all just to maybe get a smile out of myself or some positive feelings. So, let’s get into it - 5 positives/silver linings to having anxiety based on my experiences.

Self-Awareness

I know myself seriously well. I know my anxiety really well. I know how it works, what makes it tick, what is too much for it and for the most part how to manage it. I want to understand my anxieties, I spend time with myself asking why? What does it mean for me? What am I scared of? What do I think will happen? Those answers aren’t always easy, but the alternative is far worse. It's important to remember that if from these types of getting to know yourself sessions you feel "unsafe" emotionally then you need to have something to be able to put in place to re-centre yourself. Take care of your emotions. 

I’m prepared 

I’m the type of person who has a plan B, C and D because if I didn't I'd start to imagine all the things that could go wrong. Although it is tiring, sometimes unnecessary and tedious it does keep me on the ball. It also stops the thoughts from spiralling in my head too much as I know I’ve made plans. I know I’ve made good plans, I’m know I'm good at making plans and if plan A doesn’t succeed there’s no need to worry as I have alternatives ready.

Let it go

I've practiced (seriously practiced) that once something is out of my mind then I’m to let it go. For example, I’ve been anxious recently about a conflict with a family member. At this moment in time there is nothing I can do(or want to do) to mend that relationship. Therefore it needs to leave my mind, otherwise those thoughts will spiral, I’ll end up making a decision that isn’t true to myself and in the long run I won’t be happy. Instead I’ll spend some time with myself discovering why the words said to me bother me so much, again what does it mean for me? During this times of exploration I offer myself nothing besides love, compassion and acceptance. I’m a person trying to help, love and be happy - I’m no malicious monster. There’s no need to treat myself like one.

Happiness/ Purpose

I believe that I and everyone else deserves to be happy. Suffering with anxiety and seeing my dad be crippled with it has showed me a life I don’t want. I don’t want to be crippled by it, I don’t want to be ruined by it -I want and deserve to be happy. This is why I try so hard to make sure the anxiety doesn’t control my mind. My self explorations are daily, all the time I’m telling myself I deserve happiness and my anxiety doesn’t have to stop that. It’s a part of me but it doesn’t define me. It’s given me a massive sense of confidence in myself, in knowing who I am and what strength I am able to tap into.

Helping Others

With the compassion I’ve learnt to give myself, I’m able to give to others. I'm always mindful that my experience with anxiety will not be the exact same to another person's experience. I don’t feel like I need to understand the ins and outs of what they are experiencing I just need to care enough to listen and I care/listen because I know how significant it was when I started offering that to myself. I need to have enough compassion to validate them, treat them like a person and be a person back - no facades or games. I love being being able to help. Every difficult situation I’ve been put in I believe it’s so that I’m able to offer someone else some love/support when they are finding it all difficult. 

Side Note
I'm really aware that there are so many people stuck in the eye of the storm in regards to their struggles with anxiety and to those people I am sending so much love. I know the times it's ruled me, made me doubt myself, what I'm capable of and even my self worth. These positives are effectively a strategy for me, I tell myself that this is really rubbish and I've had enough but at least it's helped you know a life you want, that's something. It's so hard sometimes to find a positive or a silver lining to something that is so profoundly hard and I get that but this is just something that has helped me. If it helps one other person then that's what this is all for. 

One tip I would suggest is doing something for the purposes of self-care. When there are days when this strategy or my many others don't work I take care of myself. I deserve to be taken care of. I will spend the day doing whatever it is I want to - fortunately I'm able to have that flexibility but even if it's just an hour or a 15 minute meditation - allow yourself some time to heal. To say anxiety zaps our energy is an understatement, if it's too much then that's okay, you're allowed to say this is too much and take some time out. Take care of yourself, it is so worth investing in a relationship with yourself. 

I hope these will help in some way or another <3 If you can think of any other positives to having anxiety then please share them below. 

Thanks for reading

xxx

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