For a long time I suffered from crippling anxiety as I know many of you do right now reading this. Mine was as a result or perpetuating stress and thoughts associated with this from a life time of ignoring the symptoms.
During this time I was looking for the one and only ‘miracle cure’ only to realise after needlessly searching for way too long that there was in fact no such thing in existence.
The one glove fits all is nowhere for sale and it did actually all depend on me and my thoughts to cure me myself and I. This is a terrifying thought for the best of us and I was never very good at self help. I didn’t even know what a panic attack was, let alone actually go through one and the thought of being anxious was something the crazy people had… not for me, no, not possible or was it?
One day it hit me fair and square between the eyes and in some form or another has been on and off ever since.
Nowadays, I manage it fairly well but it has taken some careful mastering of different techniques and one heck of a lot of research into all the psycho babble that was being given to me. It is a virtual mental minefield out there and for some a money making scheme of epic proportions with a “buy this 1000 page book and in one step you will be cured” sales tactic. YES ladies and gents, I bought that book and many more besides only to realise that one fundamental core ran throughout each and every manual, self he CD, download and group session I encountered.
Your thoughts are the cause
I like to think of it now as a conveyor belt of thoughts in my mind. We often have these negative thoughts all rolling around on the conveyor belt. We choose the thought we want to choose and again, we often make the wrong choice. Subconsciously this drip feeds us with all of this negative mind chatter.
Imagine this conveyor belt of shoes. Only one pair is your size, all of the others are too small.
Obviously in real life you would never choose any other pair but the ones that fit… right? But in your mind you expertly choose the negative thoughts that you know are wrong. They often go something a little like this… each pair of shoes is a thought.
“I’m too fat, no one loves me, I’ll be better when this happens, I hate my work, my job, the office hate me, my hair is horrible, my home is a mess, my partner and I don’t get on”. Do you get the general picture?
This then continues day in and day out for some over a period of many many years, no one person has the same cut off switch. The button that finally makes the entire thing blow up resulting in panic and anxiety.
However, there are many ways to counteract this negative thinking pattern and if handled correctly can lead to helping your mind choose the right path, the right thought, once the habit has been broken.
As with all habits however, it is very difficult to break especially if you have been programmed to think this way perhaps as a child or by a friend or a set of circumstances. Someone once showed me that even the word habit is hard to get rid of.
Look at this below to see what I mean – simply removing one letter at a time; this is why they take so long to conquer and overcome.
HABIT
ABIT
BIT
IT
Rain Barrel
One of the most productive tools I was shown was to imagine myself as a rain barrel or a watering can but in the garden collecting rain, we all know the type.
Water gently falls into it over a period of time and we empty it out to water the garden. But what would happen if we didn’t empty out this rain barrel and yet the water still dripped into it?
Some days we may have torrential downpours and others a slight drip but we NEVER Emptied it out? It would overflow right? Water would be everywhere causing a flood of left unattended. It may even flow back up and cause more water damage elsewhere, you can imagine the mess.
So what if I told you that your mind and your thoughts are actually the water barrel? Your mind is the barrel and your negative worry thoughts are the water.
Some days your thoughts flood in like waterfall on steroids and other days they simply drip drip drip away, but eventually without taking time out or a break the mind simply overflows with them… causing for many panic attacks and anxiety. The solution is similar to the rain barrel also, just empty out the mind rain barrel now and then and allow the space for more.
Anything that allows you to relax your mind and body acts like a draining of the tap on the barrel. Meditation, reading a book, colouring in, doing a hobby, sleeping, mindfulness practice, yoga, taking a walk in fresh air, hypnotherapy, a massage, reflexology, Reiki anything that simply allows you to relax is draining the barrel. The more you do the more space you create.
I loved this explanation and it is something I have stuck too for many years but adapted it to my own way of lateral thinking.
Take it easy with your life, it is not a competition, there is no “getting there first”. It is more the journey on this one rather than the view at the other end. Because the view at the end is death… and no one is in a hurry to look at that square in the face are they now? Find what is right for you to help you on the way.
Remember to choose your thoughts carefully and even the people around you that often engage in your thoughts… one thought is all it takes to set the tone for an entire day! After all, we wouldn’t want to be walking around all day in a pair of shoes that are too tight, would we?
Look closely at the opening photo of the drop of water in the stillness… one drop that causes a ripple effect. That is your mind… just one drop and boom the stillness is shattered. Be careful what you drop in.
This is a huge subject matter and more articles like this will be coming in the following months so stay tuned!
Love Paula
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