From Anxiety to Tranquility to Peace
Are You Always Anxious?
What Caused Your Anxiety?
We are all anxious from time to time. What causes this anxiety? Wikipedia describes anxiety as:
Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness and worry, usually generalized and unfocused as an overreaction to a situation that is only subjectively seen as menacing.[3] It is often accompanied by muscular tension,[4] restlessness, fatigue, inability to catch one's breath, tightness in the abdominal region, and problems in concentration. Anxiety is closely related to fear, which is a response to a real or perceived immediate threat; anxiety involves the expectation of future threat including dread.[4] People facing anxiety may withdraw from situations which have provoked anxiety in the past.
I have for the last couple of weeks been anxious for an unknown reason. I have started my research for several articles and just stopped as I was getting ready to write my article.
I meditated, read scripture, took long walks all to no avail. I was too busy inside my head to allow myself to rationally think things through.
I was irritable with everyone for the slightest provocation. I was not out of control but I could not reach that state where everything fit together the way it should have. I spent less and less time working and more time finding fault with life in general.
I knew this had to change, I took added time this morning to reflect upon what I was afraid of. I sat outside and listed what I was afraid of. I came to some startling answers that plague all of us from time to time. It does not matter how successful you are or how unsuccessful you are. There will be a time that you are afraid of success, yourself, and the path you have chosen in life.
How do You Find Tranquility?
Do You Take a Role in Finding Tranquility?
What steps do you take to center yourself? Do you allow yourself to feel the power of positivity flowing around you?
You need to have some sort of structure for centering yourself. For some this may be yoga, others it may be in meditation. Using a structured format for centering yourself, to allow for positive energy to flow into your life, is a time-honored practice.
People who practice yoga on a regular basis always come back to center and allow for your energy to balance and refocus. You will find certain exercises help you to focus your energy into one direction but if you do not have balance then you come to a bottleneck. Your energy is not flowing. Find your balance!
Some people use certain religious meditations for grounding themselves. This not only allows for the positive flow to enter in but also pushes the negative energy out. Some of this is done with chanting aloud. Certain meditative states shut the mind from all negative energy and only allows positive energy to enter. This takes time and effort to get to.
Finding Peace is Relative.
How You Find Peace is Relative to Centering.
How you find the peace you need in your life is relative to centering your thoughts and energy to one purpose. You will need to find what is positive in your life and what is not.
You may find some of the things you most enjoy in life are nothing more than distractions. They will distract you from your purpose and over time KILL your desire to take any positive actions on what is truly important to you. Try to stay away from these toxic activities or people. They will only bring you down to a place you do not want to be in.
Look for people, situations and activities that build you as a person. It may be just taking 10 minutes in a day to reflect upon what matters to you in the short-term and building up to the long-term place you want to be in.
After many days and weeks feeling frustrated at my lack of progress, I sat still this morning and listed what my fears were. I looked at each of them in turn and asked myself what I was truly afraid of. The answer for me was SUCCESS. I have found that many who are sinking down with no new activity are actually afraid of SUCCESS.
I say this to newbies and people who have been here for some time: DO NOT FEAR SUCCESS!!!! Success is what you want. If you give up just before success then you have allowed fear or some other factor ROB you of part of your greater potential.
After sitting for 30 minutes or longer, examining my frustrations, looking at what I had accomplished and where I wanted to go. I was no longer anxious! I was tranquil and almost at peace.
I looked at the sky and even though it was overcast, there was a certain beauty to it. I had been unable to concentrate because of the traffic noises but they diminished(they were still there) to a point where I no longer noticed them. I looked at the towering oak while it gently swayed in the soft morning breeze. It seemed to be saying all will come and go in its own time. Bend with the wind but do not be concerned with that you cannot change.
I started to listen to the other sounds around me. I hear the blue jay greeting the morning, watched the sparrow forage for food, heard the distant cry of a hawk as it found its prey. I heard the rustling in the grass of a rodent or snake making its way on its own journey.
Just when I thought it could not be any better, I saw a hummingbird fly to the feeder we have provided. It took several long drinks before it went on its way. No wait, it did not go on its way, it was hovering just inches from my face. I did not move. I just sat there and marveled at how beautiful it was. Imagine the effort it took for it to just hover for 30 seconds in front of me. The sheer power it possessed to do that.
This made me realize that my problems were trivial in comparison to the sheer power from something so small yet so focused on what it had to do.
We all need to take a moment and appreciate the beauty before us. The answers we need for our work are there before us. We just have to take a moment, take a deep breath and tell ourselves that WE OWN THIS!!! Our success or failure does not come from without but from within.
TAKE TIME TO PUT THE EFFORT INTO CENTERING AND APPRECIATING WHAT IS BEFORE YOU!!!!
Please like, comment and share if you liked,
Jerry
Recent Comments
30
Commitment to our dreams is unsettling at times. Your suggestion of a routine sounds like a much more practical answer than my usual resort- get a snack!
Getting outside sometimes works, or getting busy with another task. However, that unease from time to time is worth developing a definite routine to enable yourself to get to work again.
Another handy tool we need in our toolbox. Thanks for making me think through this part of online work. Sami
Working through fear and anxiety can be difficult at times. Finding an outlet that has a positive element to it can work wonders. Looking for and conquering that fear is crucial to making decisions that will help you move forward is the approach that works best for me.
Jerry
Hi Jerry
A great post!
When coaching I have often had the opportunity to question people about their fears.
One of the standouts has been when I asked "What is it about success that causes your fear?"
Generalising on the answers... the cause is something to do with commitment. The commitment to achieving success, and the unknown commitments that might arise as a result of being successful.
:-)
Richard
We all have our fears. We ignore them more often than we should. As our fears gain mastery over us, we become anxious and overwhelmed.
We start to lose our focus on what we truly want to do. We need to develop coping mechanisms to combat such a situation and get back to normal without the fear.
Jerry
Meditation is a method I've used for years for all my projects and has helped me sleep soundly most nights.
Anxiety to me is FEAR of the future! Most of my fears are irrational, based on my feelings. Many of these never happen!
Taking time to walk through a future situation, with possible outcomes, good or bad, brings me back to reality, allowing me to approach my situation with logic, instead of feelings.
Success? Whenever I tackle something tough, that's success!
Very fleeting until I do something else, so to be successful, I need to have another goal.
Growth in endeavors is success, and will be good for today, as I'm not promised a tomorrow.
Staying in the NOW and facing issues as they arise, is what works for me.
When I do feel I'm not growing, I reach out to help another, which always makes me feel better about any issue I may be having.
Appreciation, as you stated, is essential.
This has been a year of uncertainty, so many people are anxious while dealing with all the changes going on everyday!
I cut out the news, as well, in keeping with your suggestion of removing toxic activities. People as well! If they are not adding value to my life, then they are probably part of the problem, and saying Adios, amigo, is sometimes just what needs to be said.
Taking things One Day at a Time!, works very well for me.
Thank you for these insights, Jerry!
Best!
Barb
Taking things one step or day at a time is a great way to cope with fear. Celebrating each small or large victory is also a great way of dealing with fear and anxiety. Helping others is another way to overcome fear.
You have a great deal to share. After having read all the ways you find to move forward, you would be a great motivator, coach and mentor.
Jerry
When I get in a tough or threatening place, I like to say, "This, too, shall pass." Indeed, if we look back at our lives we can see how many times we have been in a frustrating or unsatisfying place, and yet things have changed, and that problem is with us no longer.
Good that you discovered your cause for anxiety and laid it to rest. We all need to do such exercises from time to time just to get us back on track.
Helpful post -- thank you!
We all need to reflect from time-to-time. If for no other reason than to be sure we are where we need to be.
Jerry
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Hi Jerry,
Post - liked, shared, and commented 😊
An insightful read. You know, am not sure why it took me so long getting into online entrepreneurship after owning an online forum for so many years. Always put it off, not sure if it was fear, anxiety, or what. But the pandemic gave me the big old jolt I needed and here I am, plugging away.
We really need to appreciate and take stock of all that is before us, enjoy it, and take chances- for life is short
Sometimes even knowing that we can be successful at a particular endeavor, we overlook our previous success. We take the attitude, I know I can do this but there is no hurry. I can put it off for another day and it will be fine.
We often need someone or something to get us out of our comfort zone and become proactive again instead of reactive.
Jerry