New Year, Same Old Anxiety

It is day two of 2014 and some of you may have already broken your new year resolutions- if you had the time or energy to make resolutions at all. With the holidays behind you, you are starting to think about work, school, kids, bills, and feeling the anxieties of your real life start to creep back in. The anxiety can start to suck the energy and enjoyment out of your life.

In the Christian scriptures, there is a verse with wisdom about how to handle worry and stress, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." I have also heard it said this way, "Do not borrow trouble." Think about how much time and energy you invest in worrying. How many minutes, or hours of your day are spent worrying. And then ask yourself as the scriptures do,"Who of by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

But, how can you worry less, and enjoy your life more??? Today you can start with one simple technique - take your day one moment at at time. In other words, instead of trying to control your whole day, your whole week, and all of the relationships in your life, just focus on the next hour of your life. Can you handle what is on your plate for the next hour? If so, you can handle all of the challenges in your life. I recommend you keep redirecting your mind to focus only on the challenges and blessings of each moment. Learning to live in the moment will help you live more fully.

Living in the moment is the first step. Next I would recommend that you learn some additional skills to help decrease your anxiety. You can do this at home through the help of some books that give you practical, hands-on tools. Two the books that have been helpful to my clients are listed on my website and include:

When Panic Attacks: The New Drug Free Therapy That Can Change Your Life
The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J.Bourne

Finally, if you are having trouble managing anxiety on your own, I recommend you schedule an appointment with a therapist. A therapist can act as a coach, or trainer to help you identify what has not worked in your life and help you find the motivations and tools that will get you moving in the right direction.

Comments

Letting go of broken relationships

One of my Houston clients brought in this picture of a naked woman embracing a skeleton. She told me it had moved her deeply and spoke to her in a way that words could not. For this client, it was a visual depiction of a relationship she was holding onto with a man who could never really give her what she needed. When he would call her, she experienced a rush of happiness. But when he ignored her for days or weeks, she was forlorn and hopeless. She questioned herself and wondered why she was not more attractive to him. She was sure that if she were prettier, or smarter, or better in some way, he would be more interested. And she hated herself for not being able to just move on despite knowing the relationship was broken and lifeless. Seeing all of this depicted in this image communicated directly to her heart what was really going on. She was holding onto a man who was emotionally dead, unable to give back or love, or share in any satisfying way. She felt disgusted at the t

How To Support Someone Going Through Infertility

Guest Blog Post by Sarah Bradshaw ------------------------- For many women, trying to get pregnant is difficult, stressful, and painful Have you heard this story: woman meets someone, they fall in love, commit to one another, and then along comes a baby (or two or three)? Simple, right? For many women, having a baby is anything but simple. It can, in fact, be a difficult, stressful and potentially painful --both emotionally and physically--experience . Sometimes, the above stor y goes like this: woman meets someone, they fall in love , commit to one another, and then--nothing, absolutely nothing. The woman goes to see her do ctor to see if something is wrong . Sometimes , there's nothing wrong . The doctor says it’s just going to take more time (insert frown or angry face here) . S ometimes they get referred to a specialist. The referral is the start of a very bumpy and emotional ride. I know be cau se I have been there, and I know many other women who ha

Life With A Narcissist

During the recent presidential election cycle, people threw around the term narcissist or narcissistic personality disorder a lot when talking about Donald Trump. Many articles were written and tweets tweeted about the subject. As a therapist, I know that I can not diagnose someone I have never examined, but the discussions did call to mind my clients who have partners that exhibit traits of narcissism or even full-blown narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). What is Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)? NPD is a mental health diagnosis that is characterized by an unhealthy sense of self-importance, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. Many people have traits of narcissism, but very few, about 6.2% of the population, would meet diagnostic criteria for NPD. You can learn more about it from this nifty animated video: How does narcissism affect you in a relationship? I can recall one client, Cindy, who came to me feeling dep

Wilson Counseling: The Armchair Chronicles

Search This Blog