You’re Not Doomed To Be Anxious Forever
4 baby steps to help you find your way home.
“It’s not normal to get so stressed you can’t think straight,” my boyfriend said, flicking cigarette ash out of the window. “I worry about how you’d cope if something really bad happens.”
“I’m not so stressed I can’t think straight,” I snapped, waving his smoke away, “and it’s normal to be stressed about the things I’m worried about.”
“I don’t think it’s normal to get so anxious you get nosebleeds and insomnia,” he replied, frowning.
I still vividly remember how annoyed I was with my boyfriend at the time. He didn’t understand, I thought. Being anxious is just who I am. I’ve always been this way, and anyway, anxiety is unavoidable. How else am I supposed to react to stress?
But over time, my understanding of anxiety has shifted and changed.
For a while, I believed you could somehow think your way out of anxiety by “just getting on with it” or “just not worrying about it”. I quickly realised that wasn’t effective. Then I thought I could bargain my way out with yoga and meditation. But I hated meditating and though yoga helped calm me, the relief was only ever temporary.
Nowadays, I realise letting go of anxiety is complicated and will look a little…
