I’m a true believer that the only people who truly understand anxiety are those that have experienced it. Let’s face it, anxiety is wild. It’s your brain playing tricks on you. Except those ‘tricks’ are already very real, and so far as life is concerned, whatever it is you’re worrying about is already happening, the course of life has been set, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it. In the words of Steve Peters’ ‘The Chimp Paradox’, your chimp has taken over.
The stats are wild. Xxxxx
There are survivors of anxiety and those who live with it. Even if you’ve brought yourself back from the pure volcanic depths of anxiety, and not to mention the depression that comes with it, it still manifests itself in a series of ways. You can be living life to the fullest and the small, niggly thoughts creep in. Sure, you think to yourself “at least I don’t feel as bad as then”, and “if I can get through that I can get through anything” (which BTW are both INCREDIBLY true and powerful), but the lingering thoughts, the up & down emotions, are the ones not talked about enough.
When you survive anxiety your brain becomes very good at batting away negative or irrational thoughts. It’s a tennis match in your brain. But occasionally they creep through, and you can either use your methods to remove them, or they drift away until the next one comes along - after all they’re mostly hypothetical worries.
The people that battle anxiety every day are heros. Imagine walking around with a full on medieval battle in your brain that nobody else can see. It’s exhausting. Not to mention the impact it can have on your nearest and dearest. And imagine how powerful you could be if you could turn up everyday, to work and to life, feeling confident and feeling on top of the world. It’s a dream right, unfortunately not reality for X million of us.
Through all its negativity, there’s a number of things anxiety can teach us. It’s DESTRUCTIVE force but what if we used that force for good. Collectively we turn problems into solutions and ultimately to benefit us, ourselves, and humankind. Now who feels powerful?!
Empathy
Anxiety teaches us empathy. We’ve been through some of the worst thoughts and realms of life in our brains. Of course it makes us more empathetic. We don’t want any of our friends or family to experience that level of pain. Plus, empathy can be a powerful tool in building human connection. So use that empathic behaviour to foster strong, RESILIENT, human connections.
Active listening
Anxiety can make you a better active listener. Think about it, if you live with anxiety then more often than not you hear and listen to the clues, or at least you’re aware of them. Active listening is a method of engaging your body and mind to truly focus on another human being when they’re speaking, whether out loud or with their body language. You’re actively aware of those around you and their behaviours. And becoming a better active listener is one of the fastest routes to build stronger human connections.
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