Those of you who have followed me for a long time will know that I have suffered with anxiety my entire life. From as long as I can remember, anxiety has always been a big part of how I live and how I go about my daily business. There was a point in my life when I was 13-22 or so where I was having panic attacks often, I wasn’t able to leave the house, I couldn’t talk to new people, and I would just be crippled with fear constantly over anything and always anticipating what would go wrong, concentrating solely on the negatives and worries, which is why I’m writing this blog post. I’ve touched on anxiety before in this post and this post, as well as how learning to love yourself is the key to happiness, but a trick that I learned a few months ago that I’ve been putting into practice has helped me dramatically on my journey with anxiety and trying to overcome it.
You might have noticed that there’s different types of people in life, the glass half full kind and the glass half empty kind, and you might know what category you fall into there. Some of us are natural worriers and we get anxiety and negative feelings over change and most things, while others are extremely positive, confident and embrace change and life with positive energy and emotions. Now this is what makes a huge difference in your life, it’s all down to how you feel towards situations and how you use your energy within them. It really does change your life.
What I have been doing is I’ve been trying to change my anxious thoughts into excitement. It’s been reported quite widely that anxiety and excitement are two very similar emotions, you might wonder how as they’re the polar opposites in our mind, but the symptoms are quite close: increasing heartbeat, rapid breathing, sweating, trembling, threatened, tense, restlessness, and nervousness, gastrointestinal problems, sleeplessness, and unfocused. They are very similar to each other. With this in mind, it makes sense to try and turn anxiety into excitement. Anxiety is filled with negativity which puts out a negative energy and can turn situations bad, while excitement is a positive energy and turns situations into happy versions. I’ve learned to do this recently and embrace things in a completely different light, which can be tough at first, but it really does work!
As an example, I always have nerves and worry about going somewhere new, staying over, being in crowded situations etc. but I push through that. One thing that would have made me so scared and probably not let me enjoy the situation was the Shawn Mendes concert. For that, I had to go to Birmingham, stay over in a hotel, and be in an arena with 30,000 or more people. When I saw Ed Sheeran, I had so much worry and fear that it made the night uncomfortable and tainted it, but with Shawn Mendes, I channeled all my energy into positive thoughts and excitement. Focusing on the music, how nice it will be to see him live, all the things I could do and explore in a new place and more. It totally worked. I tried to focus on every positive thing, and anytime a negative thought came in, I would swap it around and think of a different and positive outcome instead. Now that concert and time away from home was one of the best times of my life that I will remember forever.
I’ve used this technique with all of my situations lately, including things like the mould on my wall, having to change all the wardrobes and furniture in my bedroom, re-painting etc. and normally this upsets me because I don’t like change, but I’ve channeled it into excitement of finally having a closet of my dreams, a nicer looking room etc. and it’s full of positive energy now. Of course this isn’t easy, but I’ve found it to be 100% true that negativity and worry manifests into bad outcomes, which is a bit like karma, if you put positive thoughts and vibes out, that will come back around to you, so if you put negative ones out, you can imagine what comes back. It’s almost like that saying of once one thing goes wrong, the rest follows, and that’s true, if you’re having one of those days, it’s probably because the energy is off and it’s a chain reaction and you’re then waiting on the next thing to go wrong, so try to switch it around and focus on the positive only. It’s a simple way of tricking your mind and manifesting that anxiety into excitement so it doesn’t cause you problems.
I watched a video online that my dad shared with me recently actually and it was all about how our bodies are made up of energy, how we as humans are all energy and that’s what we are constantly giving off and receiving, which is why you can build a connection with people, which is why you have gut instincts about some others, and why you don’t feel comfortable or do feel comfortable in certain situations. I recommend you watch it here as it’s eye opening, but it also explains so much in the way that we can change around that energy and use it for good.
This may seem extremely daunting and like it’s impossible if you’re in a really bad place, and of course I’ve been working on my anxiety for years, I’ve had CBT and all sorts, but mostly I’ve pushed through it on my own, so it is possible. I’m about 80% better, which I’m so happy about. I don’t think I will ever be 100% cured as that’s my personality, but using this technique is amazing. It’s easy to do by just trying to focus on some positive outcomes of a worrying situation, so instead of going ‘This could go wrong! What if this happens? I can’t do that!’ and so on, re-phrase it to ‘This could be the best thing for me! Good things will happen! I can do that!’ and focus on only the good outcomes that could come of your situation, and see what happens! Try smiling when you do it as well as this sends signals to your brain that you are happy and excited by this!
Have any of you tried this technique and method? I’d love to know your experiences too! Of course it doesn’t always work if there’s fear involved, like when I was getting my tattoo, I was extremely nervous as well as excited, so I was managing to mix the two emotions, which did help, but it wasn’t fully controlled. And if none of this does work, the next best thing is to not think about a situation, distract yourself, keep yourself occupied, and just be a bit blind/numb to it and go with the flow when it happens. Break it down into segments rather than this whole giant thing you’re doing, and if you can put it into small chunks that you haven’t overwhelmed yourself by, it’s immensely helpful! I hope this can help some of you as much as it’s helped me! Lorna xx.
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This is a great post and a great technique. I guess subconsciously I do use it from time to time. I don’t struggle with anxiety but some occasionally will creep in. I try to push past by making sure there’s something ahead to move me past it. Sometimes it’s difficult to do, though. Shared!
Ruth
http://www.VogueFauxReal.com
Author
It does really help, glad you find it useful!
Thank you so much for sharing Lorna! I recently discovered that I suffer from anxiety too, and there was a period of a month or two where I wouldn’t let myself enjoy anything. It took a lot of strength and convincing myself that things were okay and that it was my anxiety taking over, for me to be the one in control instead of the anxiety.
I love your idea of channeling the nervous thoughts into excitement, what a wonderful and positive way of looking at things.
I haven’t dealt with this for as long as you have, and I am so proud of your strength and resilience. xxx
Author
Oh I hope this is able to help you in some way, Tanvee! Well done for opening up and coming to terms with it as it can be a really crippling thing that takes over your life if it’s left untreated. I hope things get better for you!
Lovely pic of you and it’s great you’ve found a technique that works for you! I know anxiety can be really frustrating to anyone who experiences it and it’s important, like any other kind of illness, to have coping mechanisms to make things better until they pass 🙂
Hope that you are having a great week 🙂
http://awayfromtheblue.blogspot.com.au
Author
Thanks, Mica! I’m glad you think that!
I’ve suffered with anxiety my whole life too and I’m always looking for new ways to deal with it as it can be so crippling sometimes. I’m definitely gonna try your technique, it seems like really helpful and I love the feeling I get when a situation turns into a positive one only because of my mindset at the time. Thank you for sharing.
Author
Sorry to hear you suffer with it too, Marta! It truly can be awful. I hope this technique can help you!
I’ve dealt with anxiety in the past. I will try to do this!!
Jennifer
Effortlessly Sophisticated ]
Author
I hope it helps you!
Thanks for sharing this! I have read a book called Quantum Love that explains how we are all energy so I am on board with all this. I need to try this!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Author
Oh that sounds like a really good book! I will look it up!
I actually read about this just last week and have been trying to incorporate it into my life in my struggles with anxiety. Thanks for sharing more details and how you use this technique. I’ll be sure to check out the video you recommended too.
Kathrin | Polar Bear Style
Author
I really hope it helps you in some way!
Thanks for sharing this info with us. Have a great weekend.
http://www.amysfashionblog.com/blog-home
Author
No problem!
I’ve tried this, too, and it can really help 🙂
Author
Glad it worked for you 🙂
I haven’t tried this technique yet, and honestly, I’ve never thought of channeling my anxiety into excitement. I might have to try this next time since I tend to get pretty negative, but I like how the excitement will hopefully put a positive spin on things!
Mai
✰ maidoesthings.com
Author
Yes! It does work, so I hope it helps you!
Thank you so much for sharing this, Lorna. I’m definitely an anxious ‘glass half-full’ person and I tend to always imagine the worst possible outcome. It’s such a great tip to turn anxiety into excitement and I will definitely try it!
Julia x
https://www.thevelvetrunway.com/
Author
I really hope it works for you, Julia! I genuinely do!
I love this tip and am going to give it a try next time I feel anxious! Thanks for sharing 🙂
xo, Elisabeth
https://www.athomewithelisabeth.com
Author
You’re welcome! I hope it helps 🙂
Very interesting idea about turning anxiety into excitement and trying to bring something positive into the mix of our emotions. Sounds like a plan!
Author
It definitely works!
Thank you for sharing 🙂 I’ve had anxiety for years now too. It’s a comfort when other people are authentic and transparent about their mental health issues too 🙂
https://www.chicnpink.com
Author
Sorry to hear you have suffered with it for a long time. I think it’s truly important to be open and honest, the majority of us have some mental health issues, just varies on what they are, so I think it’s naive to assume everyone is ‘normal’ or what we’re led to believe is normal anyway!
Thanks for sharing and for the tips too Lorna, have a fabulous day darling!
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
Author
Glad you liked them!
This is very interesting to read and gives me quite a lot to think about. Since my diagnosis with depression (and before, to be honest) I have been feeling more anxious especially in anticipation of unfamiliar situations. I’ve always been a worrier but depression ratchets that up to the nth degree and makes the anxious about the smallest of things. I’m naturally the kind of person who likes to knows what is expected of me in any given situation and I don’t do well when things plays out differently to how I’d mentally planned them.
On a work day I have to psych myself up and think through the whole day before I begin it… think what might go wrong and try and plan how I might deal with such a situation. On my days off I’m generally more relaxed and easy going – though surprises can still throw me off track.
Anyway, I shall certainly try to focus more on the positives. 🙂 I need to because this depression is going to be a long haul…
Author
I definitely recommend it, Steven 🙂 I was the same, well am the same, I don’t deal well with change, if there’s a change or something unexpected in my routine, I freak out immediately as it wasn’t what I planned. So I totally understand. Just trying to look at it through different eyes really does help, I’m so much calmer these days, I try to just have the attitude now of I can’t change it, I can’t do anything about it, so I let it go, and deal with it the best I can, and the feeling of liberation and freedom I get from that is actually amazing, it really helps so much!
By the way, on the subject of health, I wondered if you’d seen this news story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-48756660
I thought of you, for obvious reasons, when I read it.
Author
I hadn’t seen it! But thanks for sharing that, it’s good to know I’m not alone and not the only one who passes out!