One of the more common reactions to anxiety is fear…fear of the emotion itself. The more afraid we become the more anxious we can be. It becomes a trap of our own making.
It can be easy to overlook the fact that we need anxiety in our lives just as we need stress. Both help us focus and both help us cope.
The difficulty lies in determining when anxiety and stress cross over from being supportive to being destructive. That’s where being attentive comes in to play.
We all function at different levels and those levels wax and wane during any given day. Our emotional state fluctuates between the extremes of happiness and sadness. We know when we are happy and we know when we are sad despite the opinions of those around us who may be keen to comment on our mood.
While it’s important that we take the time and make the effort to gauge where we are on the spectrum of sanity it’s absolutely vital that we ask for and accept help whenever our individual situation feels like it’s becoming unmanageable.
The recovery process should not be left until the point of collapse has been reached. It needs to start early.
What that means, however, is not ignoring the warning signs. We need to monitor and communicate with our inner self. We need to know ourselves better so we know the best times for mood modification.
It comes down to a matter of self care and no-one can do that better than the individual.
Self care is not selfish but it is sensible.
Emotional wellbeing is all about balance and no two people share the same tipping point. There is no “one size fits all” solution.
It’s only by getting to know the person we are that we can become the best version of ourselves and that’s a lifetime commitment.
There’s no time like today.
Gary Bentley Counselling 