As I have talked about many times in the past, I have struggled with anxiety since I was a child and it surfaces during exciting moments in my life.
As soon as I found out I was going to be on TV, I felt that anxiety creeping back. Because of my past with disordered eating, I used to always channel that anxiety on my outward appearance.
However, over the past few years I have worked very hard to change the negative mindset. I saw a counselor, I applied my psychology teachings, and I did a lot of inner work with myself. The change I have seen has been huge.
With this being said, there are still times in my life when I too am susceptible to negative thoughts and channeling my anxiety in a poor manner. This was evident yesterday. I was all over the place with my feelings and I definitely did not feel grounded in myself.
I always struggle with how much to reveal on this website. Do I hide my feelings because I am worried of sending the wrong message or do I share my struggles with the world in hopes that others can relate and we turn it into a learning experience?
I prefer to turn it into a learning experience, rather than hide who I am.
What I meant to include in my post last night was how I was channeling this anxiety.
When I feel anxious, instead of giving into negative thoughts…I now engage in productive activities to activate positive thoughts!
I thought I would share with you a few things I have been doing.
1) My mom sent me a poem she wrote for Operation Beautiful:
My mom is so good with words!
I love it! It never fails to make me smile. :)
2) Then I took control of my anxiety and wrote myself a positive quote:
This is one of my fav. quotes of all time:
It reminds me to think of the people I love and why I love them. It is often because they have an inner spirit that radiates from the inside!!
A couple other things I did:
3. Progressive Relaxation (try it out it’s awesome!)
4. Writing.
I also made another list of negative thoughts countered with a positive thought. This technique ALWAYS works for me and I do it often.
5. Exercise.
This morning I had a great workout, including some much needed yoga!!! Yoga never fails to relax every cell in my being.
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I don’t think it is realistic to expect perfection from ourselves and that includes times when we temporarily divert off our desired path. What is important is how we deal with those times and rise above it!!!!
I may always struggle with negative thoughts creeping back into my head, but I now have the tools to challenge them and kick their butt to the curb.
I feel back to my regular self today and I feel more excited than ever.
Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!! ;)
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Do you ever struggle with anxiety during exciting moments (or stressful ones)? How do you overcome it?
PS- Contest winners coming soon- I didn’t forget! Ok ok I did but it’s coming soon! ;)
Your posts always hit so close to home. It’s comforting to know that I’m not the only one out there suffering from anxiety. My mom dealt with anxiety her whole life until just recently when she started speaking to a psychologist. My brother suffers from it as well and so did my grandmother! Is it genetic? We’re such fun, happy people.. so why do we go through life feeling anxious about everything exciting AND stressful?
I give myself a lot of peptalks, listen to music, exercise, and do tons of yoga to help calm my thoughts!
yay Operation Beautiful!
and this is why you’re going to be on tv. because you’re real, honest, vulnerable, and beautiful. go kick some arse and shine woman. we’re all behind you.
There was a time when I would super duper anxious, and like you I’d place all of that nervous energy onto my outside appearance, and it led to some seriously disordered eating.
I remember there was a switching point and I had to tell myself to change, I went to a counselor and she gave me some ways to deal with it. One was to write down the situation, then write the worst that could happen, then write a more realistic scenario, then combine the two. Usually my anxiety would go down a fair bit. I’ve definitely always been good at writing stuff down. Things don’t make me quite as anxious anymore, and I usually try to deal with them in a situation-to-situation sort of way.
Badly. I’ve been focusing on my eating lately due to the holidays and it’s not a positive feeling. I need to utilize some of your methods instead of beating myself up over what I’ve ate (like the cupcake I ate this am).
I really needed something like this to read today. I’m living under a giant pile of University paper work and feeling quite anxious! Thanks!
Good luck with your media appearance :)
Hey Angela,
Love the sticky out tongue picture, its a great reminder never to take life too seriously =) Im off work with Swine flu and it made me smile. Thanks for posting about anxiety, its something I struggle with too, almost daily. Your a beautiful girl, who deserves every success coming her – now go rock that interview! ;)
I get anxiety from time to time too. I usually describe it as “I’m feeling weak.” Not physically, but mentally and emotionally, I just don’t feel as strong and confident in myself and my decisions as I normally do. I hate it, because it’s a skewed view of what’s reality, but it’s hard to shake it. Those are great ways to shake off the anxiety!
This was a lovely post to read. I don’t know how to deal with anxiety, and usually my “coping” methods leave me worse off than I was before. I’m going to keep your tips in mind!
If you did not have negative emotions at times, you would not be human! And sharing these with us is a GOOD thing, despite what someone said recently. You are a really good role model and someone that many of us learn from on a daily basis. We all love your honesty!
You are gonna be great on TV! Congratulations! And think of it as a warm up to a show on the Food Network – Yeah!!! :-)
Your mom is amazing!
I get through stressful times by organizing…the kitchen, my closet, etc. It just makes me feel SO much better. I too can’t eat when I am stressed so I know exactly what you are going through!
Good for you for working through the situation! I don’t get anxious too often but I have a friend who is constantly and she is always letting her negative thoughts get the better of her. I’ve tried recommending some of the things you mention on your blog but I guess she just needs to reach that point where she really wants better for herself.
Thanks for sharing who you are with us :)
For the longest time, I have used the technique of writing a list of all the silliest negative things running through my mind and right alongside them I debunk them and replace them with a more positive, rational thought. It ALWAYS works, no matter how bad the anxiety. I have done this since my early 20’s and have been able to keep any anxiety/depression at bay.
First of all, I love your mom’s poem :)
Such a good post! I suffer from anxiety too, and you have some great techniques listed here. Thanks for sharing with us, sweetie!
You’ll do awesome – good luck! Just remember, it’s not live, so they’ll just take the best clips :)
I find a lot of times if I write about my anxiety, it eases them a bit. It just gets everything that is in my head OUT!
Hi Angela! I definitely appreciate you sharing your struggles with overcoming anxiety. I can relate more than you know to channeling my anxiety to my appearance. It makes me feel better that I am not the only one that struggles with anxiety. Thank you so much for sharing!!
I definitely struggle with anxiety with all the stress of grad school and just plain life. I love progressive muscle relaxation! Our health network has put together some stress management podcasts (found here: http://health.colostate.edu/CounselingServices/StressManagement.cfm), including one about progressive muscle relaxation. I often recommend the podcasts to my patients, and I use them frequently myself.
anxiety sucks. my mom, sister and i all have it, in different forms i guess. i love your advice though.. i also try and reverse negative thoughts. i read somewhere that thoughts are just pretend things that do not exist and yet are so harmful but you can trick your brain but just saying the opposite of whatever negative thouhg youre having and then you get on a more positive track of thinking :)
ps your mom is so creative! just like you!
I can be a very anxious person. I haven’t found the perfect remedy yet. However, baking and talking to family always helps me calm down. Especially talking to my mom and brother, they always can help me talk through what is making me anxious and help me relax. :)