In my last post, I talked about how distraction is a good way to keep one’s mind off of their anxiety. I had been obsessing about something that I kept putting off due to fear. I was beginning to feel depressed that I wasn’t getting through my anxiety and that instead, I was letting it get in the way of my success. I then decided that what I would do was instead of obsessing about how I wasn’t getting what I wanted done, I would get it done in an easier way. I was still slightly upset that I was in a way giving into my anxiety, but I figured that once I felt slightly better, I could focus on practicing instead of the fact that I wasn’t doing quite what I wanted due to anxiety. The thing is that I started obsessing so much about doing the other thing that I had planned on doing, that when I thought of doing the original thing that fear had stopped me from doing in the first place, I was able to feel better about doing it and was able to get it done.
Now, my point is not that it was good to obsess. Rather my point is, that in a way, it is distraction that worked for me this morning. I was so concentrated on how I planned on getting something done in an “easier” way this morning instead of how I truly wanted to and I was so concentrated on feeling slightly depressed about it, that when I thought of something else I had really wanted to get done, it didn’t seem so hard. I finally got done what I wanted to!
Still I realized that I need to practice more. Things have been harder for me lately and it’s because lack of practice has lead to lack of confidence that I CAN get through my anxiety. We need to practice so we can prove to ourselves that we can get through our fears.
“Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles. It empties today of its strength.”
–Corrie Ten Boom