There were 2 little boys who were at the beach, when the waves started coming, one of them shouted in excitement and couldn’t wait to jump into the sea! But the other boy looked at the waves in fear and took 3 steps back from the sea.
This difference in reaction and feelings is based on how we perceive things.
In this article, we will learn how to lessen our anxiety when we start to use our primitive emotions and take our emotions based on our current life experiences into consideration.
Our behaviour and emotions are in line with our thinking. But the question here is, is what we are thinking accurate? Faulty interpretations of things bring about distress for us, therefore we need to review what are the thoughts that are running in our heads.
To lessen our anxiety, it is better if we review our thinking first before we allow our body to react in the most appropriate way. This will help you to keep in check the beliefs that are triggering your anxiety.
Additionally, by doing so, you will also be able to eliminate false beliefs that you have stored. To begin with, there is a 5-step approach that you can try in order to help you recognize and dissolve your anxiety thinking.
1. Identify – First and foremost, identify what is motivating your feelings of anxiety. Is there a change in your mood? Or is there a situation that you feel you want to run away from?
2. Reflect – Secondly, ask yourself if the way you perceive things and what you believe about things is accurate. Such as, was the thought/belief exaggerated?
3. Separation - Thirdly, learn to be able to differentiate facts and fiction. You may think that you’re going to enter a position that will make you feel really awful and that you will feel it is too much to handle. In this case, ask yourself, if it is going to be too much for you, when is too much? List them down.
4. Review – Fourthly, go through your list again and see it from a realistic point of view, by doing so, you will be able to come up with reasonable options that can help you cope with the fear of what you think might happen.
5. Tolerance – Lastly, allow yourself to feel the emotions that you think you might feel when it happens. With that, you build emotional tolerance when the event actually happens. You will learn that you’re able to withstand the feelings that you fear will not be able to handle.
We hope that with these steps, you will be able to lessen your anxiety and experience the world in a whole new perspective!