I had never been anxious and, when I saw posts aiming to help anxious people, I used to be forever grateful that I did not need those. This was before my last burnout (hopefully the last one in my entire life). Burnout can deregulate things in you, and for me, this has been anxiety. Bear with me, I am still relatively new to all of this, but lately, I have realised something helps me more than anything else whenever I start panicking – I have never before seen anybody talk about it. There we go?
Do not ‘think positive’, shift your fears
The tip is really simple, and applicable in the early stages of an anxiety stroke. You know, that moment your brain starts to run wild, and you can feel anxiety chase you but cannot seem to run fast enough to beat it? This is how you run faster: shift your fears. You read it well. I am not telling you to think positively, because the truth is that in those moments, I personally just cannot do it. But I can choose what negative thoughts I have.
Thus, when you feel like anxiety will get to you, choose your negative thought – and pick it from the past. For instance,
- If you are afraid to start a new job, go back to when you were looking for a job and were afraid of never finding one – hey, you did it!
- If you are afraid of driving somewhere new, go back to when you thought you would never get your license, or could never afford a car – you did it too!
- If you are afraid of preparing for a big house move, go back to when you were afraid you would never find a new house or be able to afford it – this also, you have managed!
Harness the power of fear to get your power back
Actually, this piece of advice is an alternative version of the portfolio of proof, but focused first on negative feelings. People with anxiety know how hard changing your feelings can be, but changing thoughts in the same feeling range (here, fear) is more manageable. Thus, please try it: whenever you are afraid of something (anything), think about another time you were afraid of something that actually led you to this fear by overcoming it.
Life will always throw new battles at you, this I have learned. You can overcome all of these, and you will still have new ones. Thus, rather than trying to suppress the elements that make you afraid (which is not possible), why not learning how to use fear as your own portfolio of proof? Being afraid of that very thing that frightens you right now and that you have had in mind all through this post is a proof that you have overcome another seemingly unbeatable fear in the past. You are strong. ♡
The English-speaking Frenchie 