Fearing Anxiety comes from how we shape reality. Our focus determines our reality, change the focus and as a result, change the reality.
You see, your fear can distort your reality. When we focus on avoiding uncertainty, we skew our logic, taking anything over dreaded uncertainty.
The good news is that you can create your reality.
Fearing anxiety makes the things you dread seem like things you know. We assume rather than reasoning.
As therapists, one word we use for this is ‘Awfulising’.
Fearing anxiety changes uncertainty from possibility to threat. The fear of fear works its way deep inside and prevents us from critical balanced thinking, often when we need that ability most. It blurs our ability to think rationally with emotion, The Chimp in our minds is in charge.
Fear can also make you inactive when there is an opportune moment, becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This is a fictional version of the world born of and bred by fear, but it isn’t always the reality.
Confronting fearing anxiety behaviour within ourselves is key to relief from it and here are some useful tools:
Identifying assumptions helps, what is real and what is assumed on the basis of the fear?
When is the poisoned parrot on your shoulder feeds negativity into your ears, silence it.
Are you rationalising? justifying? projecting beliefs onto unrelated situations, or simply making excuses?
Do you notice yourself jumping to conclusions while stuck in those familiar shortcuts to them?
Are you seeing fiction as truth?
Are you thankful for what you do have, or struggling because you’re counting curses rather than blessings? Can you identify the difference between your strengths and your weaknesses, and can you live with your weaknesses?
Can you let go of your pain or are you identified by yourself (or others) due to it?
Are you building your own reality from guesses and maybe untruths, or your fears?
Most importantly, what are you missing out on?
Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy aren’t magic wands, they’re spades, hard work in therapy challenges the above.
You as client do a job and so does the therapist, if the therapeutic relationship is strong then results are best when the right therapist, right client and right time coincide.
Using the questions above, and with professional focused help, you can identify the negative patterns in your thinking and begin work to check them out, perhaps challenge them…
… and maybe change them.