Idea of the Week

Freedom from anxiety does not mean denying stress or stressors when they occur. It does not mean putting one's head in the sand and saying, "everything is okay" when it clearly isn't.  It also does not mean medicating an unpleasant feeling, or spending copious time analyzing that which triggered the anxiety. And it definitely does not mean labeling oneself as "anxious" or "disordered"  for having experienced a garden-variety emotional state, even if you've been stuck in the thicket of panic for the last 10 years.

What freedom from anxiety does mean is taking 100% responsibility for your life. Entirely. And deciding once and for all--- to take charge of your emotional states. Because the truth is we don't HAVE anxiety, we DO anxiety (or starting today, hopefully we've DONE anxiety, as in "been there, done that").

"If you can keep your head, when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you..." Rudyard Kipling says, "you'll be a man my son."  If you can do that, you can also be free of anxiety, because you will have taken 100% responsibility for your life.

The question that empowered, responsible, self-reliant individuals need to ask themselves is "HOW do I do that?!"

Fortunately the answer is simple. And with recollection of this principal, even EASY to implement. See, all emotional states have origins in our physiology and thinking. That is the way we stand, breathe, hold our shoulders, and the words we say to ourselves, etc.   It is emotionally impossible to feel sad, for instance, while jumping up and down grinning ear to ear,  telling yourself in a squeaky voice that you are magnificent. You may feel silly, but that is not the same as sad. And, it is impossible to feel anxiety while engaged in healthful physical activity (such as aerobic exercise), or when "keeping YOUR head, when all about you are losing theirs."

Regardless of the circumstances of your life, every time you engage in a healthful activity, or "keep" your own mind, you increase the percentage of time in which you feel good. The more you do each of these things, the more you practice being in control of your emotional states and a victory-cycle (opposite of the 'vicious' kind) gets established.

One of the first things one can do while "keeping" their own head is establishing a new belief like "every time I remember to change my thinking for the better, I will notice, and praise myself." You could also add the belief that "I automatically reinforce that which makes me feel good, whether I am conscious of it or not." These are for sale for less than you'd pay for psychotherapy and Prozac. In fact if you choose to take them now, they are free!

While "keeping" your mind, you can also utilize any angry thinking toward removing doubt, disbelief and self-loathing.  (It's a thought anyway, with just as much validity as "this won't work for me.")

Thanks for reading my sales pitch. I personally liked freedom from anxiety so much, I bought the company.

Now, you are a comparison shopper. Choose wisely, and jump for joy in the aisles...

Copyright 2001 By Elizabeth Mullen. All rights reserved. May be duplicated in its entirety with contact information intact for not-for-profit purposes only. Contact: em@cornerstonecoaching.com or call toll free 1-877-532-0403.

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