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| Unique Visitors: 248 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 670153 |
| Visitors Out: 2757 |
| Total Visitors Out: 2764 |
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| Ever Thought about Therapy by Phone? |
| 2008-09-22 18:59:00 |
photo by Leo ReynoldsHave you ever wanted to talk to someone but talking in person seems really uncomfortable? Have you ever considered doing it over the phone instead?Today psychotherapist and educator Tim Desmond from Coherence Counseling shares an experience of what you can expect from phone counseling.Here is a case history from a recent client.Grace, a nurse living in Oakland, CA, began our first therapy session saying she wanted to feel less anxious. I asked her to tell me about a recent example of her anxiety, and she told me about the previous night. Her husband was watching a movie and asked if she wanted to join him. She did, but complained the entire time about how much work she was not getting done. She told me that whenever she tries to take a break from work, she constantly f...
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| Worrying is a Wasteful Use of Energy |
| 2008-09-18 14:56:00 |
It’s interesting how many times the anticipatory anxiety is worse then whatever event I am worrying about. Of course the baby blessing and family BBQ were just fine. The baby slept through the whole thing and was a delight afterward. The food was yummy and we had a great time. I was able to manage any little bits of anxiety that arose. The worst was beforehand when I couldn’t stop thinking about all the What ifs!Do you consider yourself a worrywart? I know I am. If you are then you might be plagued by "The Worrier" as well. Any fears that we can write down that start with "What if..." is a horrible waste of our time and energy. However its probably what effects me the most. I am always worrying about things that haven't even happened yet. And how many times like the example above do I ...
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| Why Must We Strive for Perfection? |
| 2008-09-14 12:02:00 |
Today is my daughter's baby blessing. I have been nervous about today for a long time, and this morning my anxiety level is really high. I haven't felt this anxious in a really long time. I finally felt things slipping out from my control and so I am forcing myself to write things out to help calm me down. So many things could go wrong today, granted they are all little and not a big deal but I have this huge desire for everything to be perfect. I am hoping things are somewhat organized but forgive me if I babble. Things that are bothering me:What if we are late to church in the first place?What if she cries through the whole blessing?What if she poops all over her pretty dress before we even make it in the doors?What if she doesn't eat enough before hand and is hungry and won't stop cryin...
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| Pretty Good Reason for my Absence |
| 2008-08-23 13:22:00 |
I want to apologize for being MIA the last couple months, but I think I have a pretty good reason for it. My little girl was born on July 14th and my life has been turned topsy-turvy upside down ever since. I am sorry I haven't been replying to emails like I usually do or posting. I think that now things are starting to settle down as I start to get the hang of being a parent and hopefully I can get back into the blogging swing of things. For those that are interested she was 7 lbs. even and 18.5 inches long.I was really worried before she came how my anxiety would be after the birth when my hormones were all out of it. Honestly the very day she was born I remember feeling extremely anxious about eating the hospital food, especially with all the guest...
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| People Pleasing Stresses Me Out! |
| 2008-06-13 16:39:00 |
I needed to hear this so maybe someone else will benefit as well:You Can't Please Everyone by allinspiration.com You may be generally an amiable and pleasant person. You may generally get along well with most people. But somehow, there is that one family member, that one friend, that one colleague, who doesn't take to you very well. This might disappoint you, sadden you, or even disillusion you. Don't allow it to. Every single person is unique. Every single relationship is different. Somewhere, somehow, there will be people who don't quite get along. If you allow yourself to adjust your personal values, to change the person that you are, ...
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| CELEBRATE. |
| 2008-06-02 14:08:00 |
I know that I haven’t posted in forever and I am so sorry about that. Lately it seems that as my due date looms closer I have gone into survival mode of just trying to make it through the day doing the bare minimums. Plus I have been blessed to have my anxiety not as strong throughout my pregnancy because my appetite has taken over my worries in my head. It’s amazing what the human body can do. However today started a fresh wave of panic because the plans for 3 baby showers are starting to solidify. The invitations are being made, addresses are being collected, and I have to go register for baby stuff this week because I procrastinated as long as I could. Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful for the baby showers because we really don’t have a lot of the supplies we need yet a...
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| A Year Later: Same Scenario, Different Outcome |
| 2008-05-09 15:16:00 |
photo by hugovkI am excited to talk about growth- of my own personal kind. Its not easy to see on a day to day basis, but today proved to be one of those situations where I could easily compare how I used to be to how I am now. Today we had our company’s annual shareholder’s meeting. Everyone gathers together for lunch to discuss business. Last year when this luncheon happened, I remember being physically sick over it and having to rely and confide in a few coworkers who have now become really close friends. I asked them to sit next to me and I told them my problem in case I had to run out suddenly to avoid throwing up. I was embarrassed, nauseas, and scared of what others might think of me for what I did or didn’t eat. It was around this time that I actually started this blog. ...
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| Could withholding feelings contribute to your anxiety? |
| 2008-04-23 17:09:00 |
I have friends who are very open about their feelings. They are able to communicate the good and the bad very easily and openly. I on the other hand have always leaned toward not expressing them. This is hard for me to do as a friend, and was even a manager. For some reason having to look one of the employees in the eyes and tell them what a great worker they were was really hard for me. Easier to understand why it was hard to tell them they were slacking or needed to do better, but it’s a little strange that even positive feedback is hard to express. I think it’s all wrapped around what they will think of me for saying that, or it is just embarrassing for some reason. I think growing up that was just how it was in my family. Positive feelings or problems weren’t openly discussed or ...
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| When Help is Harmful- A Few Quick Tips for Friends and Family |
| 2008-04-18 16:49:00 |
photo by duncanHow to Avoid Help Hazards:When entering a trigger situation, don’t mention anything about the anxiety to the worrier. It may seem like a nice supportive thing to do to ask “How are you feeling?” “Are you going to be ok?” etc, but for all you know the worrier isn’t even thinking about it and you will make them realize that others may be thinking about it and watching them which alone can cause anxiety and panic. The best thing to do is to ask the worrier later once you have left the situation. You can let them know then that you were thinking about them. Never say something like “It’s not a big deal, just stop worrying about it.” Believe me if we could we would in a heartbeat. Just being supportive is ...
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| Spammers Ruin Everything |
| 2008-04-17 11:24:00 |
Unfortunately because of an increase in spammers leaving bogus comments on the blog, I have had to take the dreaded step of adding word verification to the comments. I hate having to do that on other people's blogs, so I apologize that I am asking you to do it as well. I only want your amazing feedback, ideas, suggestions and questions and I don't want to dilute the content with unwanted spam. If it turns out that the comments really start to suffer from this then I will reverse it and just keep manually deleting the spam as it appears. For those that don’t know what the heck I am talking about, what this means is that when you leave a comment from now on, it will ask you to type in some letters/ numbers in a box first to make sure you are a human and not some spam. It only takes a few seconds to do, but it is an annoyance that I wish we didn’t have to do. I really do appreciate all of the comments you leave so please don't let this distract you from sharing in the future.
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| Attention: Mental Health Bloggers Needed |
| 2008-04-16 14:33:00 |
Here is an email I received a little while back:"I am part of a research group from The College of New Jersey interested in gaining information on the views of authors of mental health blogs. This study is part of a research project of Dr. Yifeng Hu, a professor in the Communication Studies department at TCNJ. You have been contacted because you are the author of such a blog. Participation will involve responding to surveys about your mental health and blogging habits. The results are completely confidential. No respondent's personal identity will be requested or associated with any set of answers. We appreciate your time and help with our study and as a thank you for participatin...
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| Maintaining Control When Anxiety is Triggered |
| 2008-04-11 12:51:00 |
photo by ortizmj12I would like to wrap up this mini series on working with our triggers, otherwise known as our big, hairy, mean, dark unnerving fears. If you have kept up with the last couple posts, then hopefully you’ve discovered what your triggers are and decided to not avoid them. So, you are now in a fearful situation where your triggers are triggering your anxiety. How do you maintain control? How do you stay there when you really want to run away? How do you face your fears? I have written about this in many different ways here on the blog in my own journey to finding answers and has evolved into what the heart of this blog is all about. This is what we are all looking for, striving for- a way to live our lives without the constant feelings of...
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| The Importance of Not Avoiding Your Fears A.K.A. Triggers |
| 2008-04-03 14:27:00 |
photo by kxp130Recently I posted on how to discover what your triggers are. Once you know what your triggers are, its important to not avoid them. I think this is a really crucial thing to remember when trying to manage your anxiety. Avoidance seems like the most natural thing to do. Your insides may be screaming to run the other way. We want to be happy and comfortable, so why on earth would we force ourselves to do something that is scary and fearful if we don't have to?The reason is because the more we avoid them, the bigger, meaner, and scarier those triggers become. For example, if I don't go out to eat with friends because I know it could cause me to panic, then it will be twice as hard to go out the next time too. And even harder the time after that. Eventually I would never go out ...
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| Waiting For the Fall |
| 2008-03-28 14:45:00 |
Do you ever have periods in your life where everything is just peachy? Almost too good for too long a time that you start to worry, and wonder when the next personal setback, family tragedy, or financial blow up will come? Don’t get me wrong, my life is in no way perfect. Pregnancy brings its own share of headaches, backaches, etc. My dogs just escaped from home last weekend which brought on some worry that they were hurt and they were locked up all weekend which made us sad and lonely. You can read more about that here if interested. I've been up since 4 am this morning and am crazy tired. But overall my life isn’t half bad lately. My pregnancy is going so much better than I ever expected it to, money hasn’t been tight for a while, work is cruising along, etc. My anxiety tends ...
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| Discovering Your Triggers |
| 2008-03-19 17:36:00 |
I recently had a conversation with a reader of the blog and it has prompted this post, I hope she doesn't mind. Sometimes I take for granted where I am in my process of figuring all this out that I don’t realize all the steps it takes to get there. Specifically, I know what my triggers are. Performing for people via eating, driving, playing the piano, etc. all cause anxiety for me. Eating is enough anxiety to cause a panic attack. But it took me YEARS to realize that this was what it was. I struggled thinking maybe I was allergic to something, maybe I had a weird eating disorder, maybe I had IBS, and so on. This reader was puzzled because she didn’t know what caused her panic attacks. They would come out of no where and so it was hard for her to prepare for them. If you ...
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| The Bodies Exhibition- Las Vegas |
| 2008-03-18 18:07:00 |
I got back from my weekend in Vegas last night. Overall I consider the trip a great success. Certainly not anxiety free, but I had no full blown panic attacks. Here is what I did to help me this time. I printed out my last post that I had prepared ahead of time and kept it in my back pocket at all times. I read it every morning before I left the hotel room. On the first day we were eating in a food court environment at Gameworks and I started to feel nauseas. I am pretty sure it was anxiety provoked. I just stopped eating. When my friends asked me what was wrong I simply said I didn’t feel well. Then when I could feel the nausea subside a little, I just stuck with the simple rice that I had to get something down. The next morning I woke up panic stricken at 5:30 am. I used to feel t...
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| Traveling With Anxiety- Trip #3 |
| 2008-03-14 13:46:00 |
photo by RoadsidepicturesThis weekend I am going on a trip to Las Vegas with my husband and some friends. What a fun thing to do right? However I have had some minor anticipatory anxiety worrying about it this week since the last two trips I went on was either an anxiety nightmare, or at least had some smaller setbacks.Following my true natural instincts I procrastinated all preparation for the trip until the afternoon before we leave. This is because then I wouldn't have to think about it and worry more than I need to. Not very smart after all because now I am a little overwhelmed with everything I have to do and that is stressing me out.So I thought I would take my lunch hour and go over some previous posts I have written to help me be more prepared. Ha...
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| Purchase The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook Here! |
| 2008-03-13 13:58:00 |
Quick Announcement: I have a new feature to the blog. Now you can purchase the book I am always referring to, "The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook" by Edmund J. Bourne right here from the sidebar of my blog. The picture above won't take you to it but the one on the left hand side of the blog will. I purchased mine online and it was a very easy experience. I hardly ever buy books but this one was worth every penny. The nice thing about it is that it gives you the tools to learn and then the workspace to practice those tools. You really get a feel for who you are and what the real issues you need to work out come from. You can learn about the Anxiety Scale, Positive Affirmations, Exposure to Your Fears, and so much more.Enjoy!If you enjoyed this post Subscribe to The Reality of Anxiety.
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| Don't Have Time For a Game Plan? Don't Back Down, But Be Yourself |
| 2008-03-12 14:41:00 |
I had a situation recently where i was asked out to lunch very last minute. This is something that I don’t want to stop happening because I love to hang out with my friends and family. However because of the timing, I was unable to really prepare myself for any panic that could arise. I told myself on the drive over a few things I thought might help, but I was already a little flustered. As I was waiting to meet my friends, I could feel the anxiety come and felt immediately nauseous. It has been so long since I had felt this high of anxiety that I wasn’t sure what to do at first. I thought, “I need to get distracted.” So I went into a store and looked at jewelry that I wouldn’t mind owning. When I peeked out I saw they were there. We decided where to eat and as I was ordering t...
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| Prevent Panic: Have a Game Plan |
| 2008-02-20 20:55:00 |
photo by TurtbluI am continually amazed. I used to make a point to blog at least once a day even if I had nothing to say. Lately I have been such a flake with blogging and I think its because I have so much on my mind that I don't have as much time to worry about my anxiety. So I get on today expecting a huge drop of readers and what do I see? The readership has grown and I have a handful of comments to read through. I am so happy that this blog has continued to help others even when I haven't needed to rely on it so heavily.Quick update. I didn't go back on my medication. I was unable to get ahold of my doctor for several days because of their weird work hours. I swear doctors are the only people that can tell you to come early for an appt. and then have you sitting there for an hour just...
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| To Take or Not To Take, That is The Question |
| 2008-01-29 14:16:00 |
I've hit my second trimester of pregnancy and BAM! Just like that the anxiety is back. I did really well the last few months going cold turkey off my meds. I expected things to go a lot worse. I gained 5 pounds so far which is really great. Lots of women don't gain anything because they are too sick the first trimester. So I am really proud about that.These last couple days however, I can't shake this anxious feeling. Its there when I wake up, and comes and goes throughout the day. I have no appetite because I am getting over the flu, and I wonder if that has something to do with it. I have lost a pound or two from the flu and that always feels like a setback. I can't help but wonder if I should get back on my meds now that I am passed the first trimester.Overall I just don't feel well anymore. My self confidence is down and I am losing faith in myself. I am tired of not feeling well, not having energy, etc. But I guess it all comes with the territory.
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| Overcoming an Anxiety Attack |
| 2008-01-11 14:48:00 |
photo by fotologicI am very proud of myself. Today I had a panic attack, but I rode it out and I overcame it. I haven’t had a panic attack, or anxiety at all for that matter, since Thanksgiving. I got invited to a luncheon with my new department and the fear took a hold right away. It was that panic that I dread which only makes it worse once you recognize its there. So I pulled up some of my previous blogs posts that I refer to often to help myself and I did my mental exercise to prepare for the lunch. I felt a little bit better before we left. Once there the panic came rushing back again and I could tell I was going to be sick, so I went to the restroom. This nausea was definitely different than pregnancy nausea. My face and neck and were flushed...
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| No Sympathy if You Don’t Try to Change |
| 2008-01-08 15:52:00 |
This is a little thing I live by whether its right or wrong. Don't get me wrong, I can sympathize, empathize, show compassion, and feel bad for someone if they are in a crappy situation. I am not a heart of stone. However, if after a certain amount of time of hearing the same complaints over and over and knowing the person has done nothing to change their predicament; I lose the sympathy and just get tired of listening. I have been known to tell people after years of the same problem that unless they do something about it, I don’t want to hear about it anymore. Sometimes I have to take a look at myself and see if I am doing the same thing to others. I have been struggling with work lately and have even written a couple blog posts on it, because it...
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| Great Quote Alert |
| 2008-01-04 10:54:00 |
“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.” --Brian Tracy
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| New Year, Clean Slate, Fresh Look |
| 2008-01-02 16:52:00 |
New Year, Clean Slate, Fresh Look Sorry I did not write over break, my computer broke and I had no internet access. It’s nice to get in touch with the world again. Happy New Year! What an amazing feeling to know that you have a whole new year to start over. As Natasha Beddingfield says, “Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten.” I am sure you have all made New Year’s Resolutions by now and I hope you are staying positive and motivated. Just a tip, make realistic goals and not too many of them. I looked back on my 2007 Resolutions and saw that one was to “get over my stomach anxiety” and to gain weight. This made me reflect on everything I have been through this past year and helped me to realize just how much I ha...
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| Negativity is Toxic |
| 2007-12-14 15:59:00 |
photo taken by code_martial Lately my work has been unbearable. Days spent crying in the bathroom, power struggling with my micromanaging boss. He seems to win every time and a little part of my freedom or even my job duties are taken away. I spend time whispering with others who are struggling about a revolution that can’t happen soon enough. Its to the point where finding another job is starting to sound like a good idea, even though in my position I should just wait it out and hope for the best. My last job I was in the same boat and I left to come to this job. But I don’t have the same luxuries I did then, now. Right now my emotions are through the roof and I can’t control them like I used to. I get annoyed so easily and I don’t hide all the anger I feel anymore. Maybe it...
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| Listen to Your Body |
| 2007-12-13 10:44:00 |
The biggest lesson I am learning these days is to listen to my body and not my mind. For the last year I have done everything in my power to not throw up and felt like I had a setback every time it would happen. However now I am getting sick everyday because of morning sickness, and its ok because I am learning to accept that my body has needs that I have to abide by. I can tell when my body doesn’t want to eat vs. when it really does want to. I haven’t been losing weight which is really great. When I am tired I rest, when I am sick, I let myself be sick. It’s all working out so far. But it goes beyond just pregnancy. Weight loss, weight gain, self esteem, our panic; all happen in result to what we are listening to in our heads, as opposed to liste...
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| Catching Up |
| 2007-12-10 12:18:00 |
I apologize for the long delay in posts. I have obviously had a lot on my mind lately and most of my computer time is spent researching what the heck is going on inside of me. Since I have found out that I am pregnant I have had 2 situations where my anxiety kicked in. One time my family went out to eat after seeing a ballet. I was starving and ate so much I felt huge! Well I wasn’t feeling too great afterward, but it wasn’t nausea. People could see I wasn’t doing too well so the trip home began. The woman sitting next to me who wasn’t immediate family asked me if I was having morning sickness. For some reason this spurred the all too familiar burning sensation in the back of my neck. This happens when I feel embarrassed or ashamed, or I am about to throw up. I told her no, it...
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| Big News and Lots of Anxiety to Go With It |
| 2007-11-26 17:16:00 |
| Well I have just had the craziest week in my entire life. Big news… dum dah dah dum!!! (Those were trumpets and now for the drum roll) ........................................................................... I’M PREGNANT! I found out the night before Thanksgiving which means I had to face the scariest day of the year medication free and completely freaked out. I did pretty well actually. I told the family and they were so excited. Plus throwing up when your pregnant is completely acceptable so had I than it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But I didn’t. So why am I am telling all of you when I hardly know you and I am not in the “safe zone” yet? Because you already know all the most intimate secrets of my life anyway, and my
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| Proof that Positive Affirmations Work |
| 2007-11-21 10:32:00 |
photo by Thiru MuruganOne of my favorite positive affirmations that I remind myself of daily is “There’s no need to push yourself. You can take as small a step forward as you choose.” When I first started using positive affirmations, I liked this one because it calmed me down, and made me feel safe. At the time I started using it, I was aggressively trying to gain weight by taking weight gaining supplements, counting my calories, and force feeding myself when I wasn’t hungry. I wrote a post called, “My Healthy My Happy” where I decided that I was putting too much pressure on myself which was causing more anxiety. That’s when I posted a picture of a footprint in the sand on my cubicle wall right next to my monitor at work that repres...
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| Turkey Day Meltdowns |
| 2007-11-15 12:09:00 |
photo by scruff35 Thanksgiving is easily my least favorite holiday for obvious reasons. It’s the one day of the year where the entire point is to eat as much food as you can in front of everyone you know. It’s a nightmare in real life. Last year I tried to do 2 different dinners, only to wind up having a panic attack at my sister’s house and having to bail out before the food was even done being cooked. I remember feeling so embarrassed and upset that day because I couldn’t understand what was wrong with me. This was when I was just learning about anxiety and panic attacks and hadn’t quite nailed it all down yet. Then to make matters worse, the next morning all the girls on my in-law side of the family had to do the early morning shopping. When they were starting to ...
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| Our Deepest Fear |
| 2007-11-13 13:06:00 |
photo by timsamoff"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear our presence automatically liberates others."-Marianne WilliamsonAmerican author, lecturerIf you enjoyed this post Subscribe to The Reality of Anxiety.
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| 10 Step Mental Exercise that Will Reduce Panic |
| 2007-11-07 15:49:00 |
When you feel a panic attack coming on, usually everything escalates very quickly. With or without noticing it, your mind begins to race and quickly the negative thoughts overwhelm you furthering the panic. Negative thoughts usually start off with “What if…” “I should be able to ….” “I have to…” or other critical comments like “I’m so weak” or victimization “Its hopeless, why bother”. These thoughts are called Negative Self Talk. The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne lists a quick explanation of what Self Talk is and how it works: "It is so automatic and subtle you don't notice it or the effect it has on your moods and feelings.It appears in telegraphic form- one short word or image ("Oh no!) contains a whole series of thoughts, memor...
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| Can You Be Declined Life Insurance Because of Anxiety? |
| 2007-11-05 12:49:00 |
photo by clemente This morning I had a nurse come over to my house, take my medical history, draw blood, etc. all for the purpose of approving me for term life insurance. The man signing us up was a little concerned about my anxiety background as cause for being declined. He said that people with anxiety have a separate phone call made (which I am still waiting for) to discuss it in more detail. My question is, since anxiety isn’t life threatening, why would you be declined for life insurance? Its not like having anxiety means you are suicidal. History of cancer? Understandable. Diabetes? Definitely a red flag. But anxiety? Come on! So I am waiting to hear the verdict. If I get declined I will be very shocked. Heaven forbid anyone gets a bugbite because that might be next on the list of potential life threatening illnesses or diseases to decline insurance for! If you enjoyed this post Subscribe to The Reality of Anxiety.
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| What is RSS? How to Stay Up to Date with The Reality of Anxiety |
| 2007-10-30 15:00:00 |
Explanation taken from ProbloggerWhat is RSS? Do you want to keep up to date with the latest posts on The Reality of Anxiety? I have a number of ways that you can subscribe to this site and receive updates. The main one that my readers use is my RSS feed. RSS is a technology that is being used by millions of web users around the world to keep track of their favorite websites. In the ‘old days’ of the web to keep track of updates on a website you had to ‘bookmark’ websites in your browser and manually return to them on a regular basis to see what had been added. The problems with bookmarking You as the web surfer had to do all the workIt can get complicated when ...
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| Internal Cleansing: Confrontation and Assertiveness |
| 2007-10-30 13:50:00 |
Lately my life has been filled with confrontation. This is new territory for me. Usually I run from it like the plague. I would rather bottle up any frustrations and deal with those consequences than have it out with someone. Why? Because I hate how awkward it is and I want everyone to like me, and I cave under pressure. I really struggle with defending my thoughts when going into battle. It’s easier to just keep the peace. However lately that hasn’t been an option. I have gone into battle and I hope good has come out of it. A given example is at my work. This morning I had to confront my boss about micromanaging me. I was not looking forward to it but I knew if I didn’t say anything, it would continue and I would slowly lose any power that I have over my department. I don't w...
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| Forgiveness: How to Make Peace with your Past and Get on with Your Life |
| 2007-10-26 10:49:00 |
To search inside click here Sorry it has been so long since I’ve posted. There have been some personal issues that have been taking up much of my spare time. I am reading an amazing book that I can’t put down titled Forgiveness: How to Make Peace with Your Past and Get on with Your Life by Dr. Sidney B. Simon and Suzanne Simon. It discusses how forgiveness isn’t a gift that you give to someone who hurt you, but a gift you give to yourself. Many physical stressors in our lives occur due to the fact that we are holding onto grudges and other heavy baggage that weighs us down because we feel that by forgiving we are somehow giving in or letting them get away with it or that we are not validating our feelings. I haven’t finished it y...
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| Anxiety of Jury Selection Should be a Reality TV Show |
| 2007-10-22 19:30:00 |
photo by Eric HamiltonToday I had to go to the downtown courthouse to fulfill my civic duty and potentially serve on a jury. For me, this was a dream come true. I am a big fan of the legal world and love to see it in action. I really wanted to be on the jury. When I got to the courthouse I was about twenty minutes early and so I sat down along with everyone else and immediately I was struck with panic. I tried to take deep breaths and that helped a little. I took some Clonozepam and worried that I wouldn't have enough time for it to kick in. I watched the minutes counting down and realized that if I needed to go to the restroom to let the panic explode, I could be late for the beginning and I didn't know what that would do. I didn't want to miss anything. So...
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| National Love Your Body Day |
| 2007-10-18 11:26:00 |
Today is National Love Your Body Day. According to this website 80% of Women in the U.S. are dissatisfied with their appearance. The first day was celebrated back in Sept. 25, 1998.So this morning I got up and did the works to celebrate today. Shower, shaving, tweezing, bleaching, styling, etc. I was thinking about what I would mention and realized that I had it all backwards. I was trying to be beautiful instead of already thinking I was. I think the most important thing is to realize is that today is a day to love your body NOW, the way it already looks. Its not a day to say, “because I love my body I am going to start that diet..." It's where you appreciate what you already have and celebrate YOU!Dove has been doing a campaign for a long time on celebrating "real" beauty as opposed to what society tells us is beauty. Here are some of their videos. They are all short but have an awesome message. Dove- Campaign For Real Beauty Another video by Dove that is very interesting can be found here.They have a ton more videos.I recommend checking out this website for ideas on what you can do to help you "love your body"So how will you celebrate?If you enjoyed this post Subscribe to The Reality of Anxiety
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| Successful Small Trip |
| 2007-10-17 10:11:00 |
Some of you may have noticed that I removed my last post. I apologize for the broken link to any subscribers. I had mentioned some gripes about work and accidentally left the company name in the post. A coworker found the post by googling the company name and so I thought it would be best to remove it before my company removed me! Lets catch up. This weekend I took a trip to Vegas to watch a football game. Its tradition that we always go to the away game to Vegas and dress up like idiots for the game. Everyone stares at you and either cheers you on for being so gutsy or just stares in amazement. This time when we went I wasn’t looking forward to it because I was worried about my anxiety flaring up and ruining the trip. Needless to say the morning of I took a little Clonozepam and it helped. When I felt anxious the next morning I just did what I wanted to do and didn’t force myself to do anything. I only ate what was comfortable. And I made it through panic attack free. It was a fun little trip. Our team won (Go BYU!) and we had fun talking in the car. That’s one of those great things about road trips. You don’t have so many distractions and you can actually talk to each other. We talked about where we see ourselves in the future, what we want to accomplish, and even went on a tangent about if we killed someone how we would do it and how we would cover it up. So anyone reading this that knows me, if I am ever found deceased at an early age, check for poisoning! Tomorrow is National Love Your Body Day. Sounds like a good excuse to pamper yourself to me!
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