Before we proceed, I want to throw a slight disclaimer out there: anxiety is an epidemic running rancid throughout billions of peoples' lives. Virtually no one is immune to it. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, an expert on coping with and overcoming anxiety, but as someone who has had my own bouts with the disease (and it IS a disease), these are some thoughts that have helped me raise my awareness in terms of identifying, understanding, and lessening my feelings of anxiousness.

If you feel beholden to anxiety, you are not alone, and you are not without hope. You are capable of fashioning your own unique master key and unlocking the handcuffs of anxiousness that so many of us feel shackled by. There are countless supportive outlets available to you who are suffering from anxiety. The last point I want to make before continuing is this: know that you do not have to succumb to anxiety. It does not have to control or hinder your life. There are roads, both internal and external, that await your travel, and they lead to a mind of tranquility, conscientiousness, and self-awareness.

And now we proceed...

As we’ve learned, the things that dominate our mind and daily thoughts are the things that define our reality. When your anxiety, or your fear of becoming anxious, is the dominating theme in your mind, you attract anxiety-provoking circumstances. People who are anxious are more prone to identify factors that trigger their anxiety. Stated differently, their own anxiety shines a light on other anxious things. When you are on high alert for triggers, you are more likely to identify neutral experiences as fearful, thus heightening your anxiety. We all struggle with varying degrees of anxiety, and our triggers are unique to each of us.

Think about it this way: when someone annoys you for whatever reason, you find every little thing that they do annoying. What they say, how they act - even if it’s something completely normal or harmless, you will find a reason why it annoys you. You are overly sensitive to the things they do. I’m sure we can all relate to this phenomenon!

The overly anxious act is in the same manner. You find multiple reasons about which to be anxious. Even if it’s a neutral experience, the majority of what you interpret will be tainted with a sense of anxiety, because you are viewing through a lens of anxiety. This is called anticipatory anxiety. The concept is more or less self-explanatory, but understanding it is a massive step in identifying our triggers. It’s the feeling you get when you walk through a haunted house. You see a corner coming up, you feel your heart rate rise, your adrenaline spike - you’re on high alert for whatever is around that corner! Now, there’s not always something around the corner, but each time you approach one, your anticipatory anxiety flares up all the same.

Don’t let anticipatory anxiety high-jack your peace of mind. Your attention is closely tied to your emotion. When your attention is fixed upon the prospect of anxiety, it is reflected in your emotions, and you feel anxious. When your attention is fixed upon the joyful and fortunate experiences in life, your emotions are rooted in joy and good fortune.

So now the question arises, how can I decrease this anticipatory anxiety? The answer is difficult, and surely cannot be adequately explained in this short article, but we’ll give a preview in order to introduce what I have found to be some effective strategies.

When we begin to feel anxiety creeping into our psyche, we need a plan of action to lessen its effects. For example, one sensing anxiousness could repeat the following affirmative statements to themselves:

I know this anxiety is an emotion I am feeling.
I know my emotions are closely tied with my attention.
I know can control both my emotions and my attention.
Therefore, I will choose to train my attention on something else, and let my emotions reflect what my attention maintains.

From here, it is up to you to follow through with the attention shift. Find something to focus on that results in feelings of comfort, security, and assurance. Be creative in these thoughts - the more genuinely you engage in this practice, the higher the impact your attention shift will have on your anxiety.

In closing, if you find yourself consistently gripped by anxiety, it is a clear indication that your daily routines and habits need addressing. Ask yourself these questions in order to help identify your triggers:

When, where, or with whom do I experience this anxiety?
What is consistent in these experiences?
How can I better handle or decrease my exposure to these experiences?
What can I easily change in my daily routines in order to promote calmness and confidence?

The doorway to large scale changes in life is through small scale changes in life.