MARCH: Are We Always in Control?

Life isn’t always easy. In our everyday struggle to be on top and to have everything we want, there are some disappointments, failures, rejections and criticisms. But to some people, these negative points might trigger more than a sad face – panic and anxiety grow out from all of these.

There are several kinds of anxieties that we experience. The social anxiety deals with your relationship with people, to your family, neighbors, wife or husband, boyfriends or girlfriends, friends, co-workers and the like. Do you feel unloved by your father? Do you have a hard time talking to your teacher about your grade? Does your friend think so negatively of you that you tend to shy away from him? Do you panic whenever you are about to give a speech in front of the whole school?

The mind anxiety deals with more than a portion of the way you think towards a particular situation. When a friend doesn’t talk to you for more than a week, you already feel that he’s angry, and therefore this makes you anxious. Do you sometimes exaggerate and overreact to a particular situation or sometimes “read” people’s minds and try to put your own words in their mouths?

The body anxiety deals with how anxiety can warp the way you think you look and being judged for it. Am I so fat that she doesn’t want to talk to me? If only had more of a muscular build, then maybe she would go out on a date with me. If I were smarter, perhaps I could get that smart guy interested.

Feeling anxiety talks about your low self-esteem and how you feel about yourself, as well as others. If a parent tells a child that he’s stubborn and hopeless, the child might keep that in mind and harbor those ill feelings until he grows older, which could later result in them operating in anxiety and panic.

So how do you overcome all these?

Start by deciding to love yourself. Embrace who you are. Accept that you can’t do everything. Realize that not everything in this world is right for you, that you make mistakes like everyone else and that you will overcome them. Most important of all, just cherish that you’re a human being.

It might not seem easy at first – it really isn’t. Remember to be kinder to yourself… It takes time, conscious effort and determination to overcome all the feelings of guilt, insecurity and non-acceptance, but in the end, this would help you in learning who you are and also, who you aren’t. Both are essential!