You have the power to make choices, but having anxiety is not one of them. Anxiety just happens. It’s not a choice. Nobody chooses to be anxious or afraid. But you certainly can choose a new approach to your anxiety to get a different outcome in your life. you can control and change how you respond to your anxiety-related feelings, thoughts, and worries:
-You can stop trying to cope with worries, anxieties, and fears (if coping and other management strategies have not worked in a lasting way).
-You can learn to leave worries, anxieties, and fears alone and simply experience them as thoughts, sensations, feelings, or painful memories.
-You don’t have to act on your anxiety, and it doesn’t need to drive what you do. As much as you feel like running from intense anxiety, you can learn to act differently.
-You can learn to watch anxious feelings and worrisome thoughts and not do what they tell you to do.
-You can learn to nurture a kinder and friendlier relationship with yourself and your emotional life instead of reacting to anxiety as an enemy or unwelcome guest.
-You can learn to move with your anxious discomfort and do something that’s potentially vital in your life.
We know from research and clinical experience that the solution to anxiety, worry, and fear isn’t more struggle. It’s not about trying to get rid of them. It’s also not about replacing negative with positive thoughts like you might do when swapping out a worn-out spark plug in your car. None of this really works with anxiety and fear. And yet, many people do struggle. You probably
do too. the solution to your anxiety problems is not to fight “better or harder.” The solution is to change your relationship with, and
your response to, your anxious thoughts and feelings. You can choose to stop fighting. To get there, you’ll need to learn how
to acknowledge anxious thoughts and feelings without “becoming” them, acting on them, and doing what they say.
Embrace your Anxiety and live happily
