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! ;)
Great tips on beating anxiety! Yoga is a good one, I have something big tomorrow and to beat stress I am getting my downdog on tonight ;-)
First of all, you are GORGEOUS and need to hear that!
Second, I can totally relate. Even people in college would ask me how long I’d spent on my hair because the more anxious I was, the more perfected my hair was – coiffed within an inch of its life.
I have a special coffee meeting today and spent an extra 5 minutes on some eyelash positioning!
So never feel that you’re alone. We soooo appreciate you sharing. Good job finding healthy ways to assuage your anxiety (I once did jumping jacks until I was totally worn out and then the thing I was so anxious about turned out not happening. Still happy to get those jacks in though!).
I’m glad you posted this! I struggle with anxiety as well — but exercising, and a better understanding of myself has helped (and — not gonna lie — a Xanax, as needed. Literally like no more than 1x a month…). I struggle with social anxiety issues — traveling, attending meetings, riding in cars with other people….basically anything that leaves me out of control of the situation and unable to “escape” (or leave) when/if I want to.
It’s a constant struggle, but I acknowledge that I’ve grown leaps and bounds in trying to tame it! I’ve also discovered it helps to talk about it — so I’d say if you are comfortable, yak away on the blog whenever you’re feeling anxious!
Thanks for sharing this. I struggle with anxiety too. I have found that for me, swimming really helps. I also try to talk through my anxieties with someone. I am terrible for building things up out of all proportion in my mind, and actually talking to someone helps me to get things in perpective. And a good cry helps as well!
Angela, thank you for posting the poem from your mom! It was a delight to read, and it lifted my spirits! She is indeed talented with words. The Sophia Loren quote is so true; one’s external appearance reflects their internal stability. Thanks for this post and for your continuous dedication to encouraging readers to feel good about themselves. You certainly made my day brighter!
ANG congrats on the TV spot and your house looks aaaamaaazing!!! You will be just fabulous :D As usual!
Thanks for this post. The schedule I’m keeping (and pressure) is just horrible. I wish I could find a good way to deal with the stress. . . and anxiety!
Angela,
You have the most AWESOME site ever. You are honest, sincere, you explode with integrity, you have values that are sincere, pure, honest, and real and it shows in EVERY posting.
On top of that you are incredibly beautiful. TO think that even for a minute you would experience the negative feelings that you do is astonishing.
I am WAY older than you (probably your Mom’s age)….and so when I read/look/hear what you have to say I am astonished that you have the kind of nervous energy that you describe. I do relate to it (at my age), but WOW – you should go to bed EVERY dayI and your mantra should be:
I am strong
I emobdy incredibly STRONG values, beliefs and faith
I demonstrate those values every day
I live clean, exercise religiously, continue to try harder
I am BEAUTIFUL….everybody things so (honest)
You are going to be a HUGE star on this TV series. Your house is beautiful, you are beautiful, Eric is great…STOP worrying.
Enjoy :)
I love your mom’s poem! Anxiety is definitely hard to deal with. I struggle all the time. Exercising generally helps me, also doing something to get my mind of whatever is stressing me out.
What a beautiful and honest post – thankyou for sharing. I can certainly relate to the ‘anxiety’ issues and your approach to tackling it is wonderful :)
I can totally relate to this too! The one thing that has really helped me is exercise. For some reason it calms me down mentally and emotionally and really helps me through some tough times. Its those awesome endorphins I’ll tell ya=) I wish you all the best and I know you will be amazing!! You always are!=) Keep up the fabulous work!
I can definitely relate to this, I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder in high school. I was on medication for a little while but I found that overcoming it in my lifestyle made me feel SO much better and in control over my own life. These are great tips, I love your mom’s poem.
Your words are so true! And i love that poem your mom wrote – simple yet powerful
Wow, looks like lots of your readers have anxiety. Including me. My boyfriend wants me to get a handle on it, he says he has a hard time being with me when I am especially agitated and fixated on something minor.
Running does help but I am trying to get into yoga. I didn’t like it in the past but lately I have been enjoying it on my own and would like to keep trying. I have a hard time really focusing but I hope that will get better over time.
I know you love inspiring quotes, and I’m not sure how you personally feel about Bible verses, but these came to my mind, as they have been sources of comfort and truth to me during times of anxiety:
Philippians 4:6-7 “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.”
Also, Jesus said, “Can all you worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not.” Matthew 6:27 and “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.” Matt. 6:34
I don’t mean to push my own beliefs on you, but I thought I’d just share how my faith has gotten me through very anxious times in my life.
Love your honesty, thank you for being so real with us, Angela!
Great post, Angela! I love the poem you mom send to you!
I get really anxious as well … and the only way I can deal is to take deep breaths and try to relax.
I’ve struggled with my anxiety disorder for years. I’ve had a good grip on it for the past few years though. When I start feeling anxious, I stop, identify the fact that I am feeling anxious (b/c it tends to just creep up on me), the think back and recall what made me anxious (Because if I’m worrying about something it tends to be a “go to” worry instead of what I need to think about. I distract myself from negative or strong emotions by feeling anxious instead). So once I find the trigger, I address it and once I’m done with that process, it will have given me enough time to separate myself from those anxious feelings.
For example, I might feel angry at someone or frustrated or embarrassed, but instead of dealing with my real feelings, I’ll start worrying that my hangnail is going to become infected and that I’ll have to go to urgent care b/c it’s after 5 and that then I’ll be low on money for the next two weeks, etc…. If I stop and notice that I started worrying after I became upset, and then think about how I can resolve the situation that made me upset, then the anxiety usually goes away.
Oddly enough, being really really excited or happy can also trigger anxiety for me. It’s like my mind knows it’s really good at worrying, so that’s what it does when it doesn’t know how to process my real feelings.
Other things I do that keep it at bay are adhering to a regular schedule in terms of lifestyle and in terms of when I eat, and getting plenty of exercise.
I get super anxious a lot. I’ve used exercise for a change from food. I also tend to use yoga to help since I have to focus on the poses.
Great post!! I struggle A LOT with anxiety over things like tests, social situations to stupid things like what to wear each day.
What helps me is acknowledging exactly WHAT about that situation is making me so worried and anxious. 9 times out of 10 it’s some irrational fear that I’m letting get to me, and I can nip it in the bud right there!