My outlook must be bigger and stronger than my fear.
Live free of mental fear and emotional fear that holds us back.
Go unready.
You must believe in the treatment.
Refuse to feed OCD anymore – starve it!
“If I imagine something inappropriate then that means I’m a bad person and I can’t handle that!”….versus “If I imagine something inappropriate then I’ll feel uncertain and anxious. And I CAN handle that.”
Be brave, courageous. Let go of being in control and worrying about losing that edge. And go on anyway. That’s courage.
Try to sit with your anxiety. It’s the trying that’s important. The invasive thoughts will occur. Just keep trying to refocus on what you are reading, watching on TV, etc.
You will find out that you can go on in the face of the anxiety, that you will not “Lose your mind.”
Call fear and OCD’s bluff and discover if what you fear is true. Don’t believe anything. Don’t believe your thoughts. Find out if it is true through actions. No thoughts. Fear hates discovery and choice because it unveils the empty threat.
Anything you can do to interrupt the loop will start to create new neural pathways. This is when the hard-wiring that has been going on, because of the anxiety, will begin to stop.
OCD demands certainty in order for us to be safe and happy. In reality, listening to OCD guarantees us danger and misery.
In living a healthy life we don’t pursue perfect safety, rather, we commit our lives to growth and adapt to change.
As promised, here are a few more statements and thoughts for you to use when dealing with intense anxiety.
1) I’m gonna let it roll. I’m gonna let the thoughts and the anxiety be there and see what happens.
2) Let it be in the space.
3) You’re stronger if you can allow yourself to feel remarkably weak.
4) Just soak it in.
5) I’m just going to be how I am and I’m not gonna do that stuff I was doing.
6) Be and feel weak and just go on with your day. Accept and get used to it.
7) I’m prepared to shake it all up.
8) It’s exciting to see you go through this growth. Let’s see how far we can do this.
9) I’m still here.
10) Don’t know if I can handle it, but I’m just going in anyway.
This will be the first of several blogs where I will share tools that have worked for me when dealing with extreme anxiety. Sometimes a simple statement can make the difference in a day rife with anxiety. Tell yourself any one of these tools and sit with the thoughts it creates….then see what happens. Allow yourself to feel the discomfort. It will eventually dissipate in time and make you stronger for the next go-around with anxiety.
1) Acceptance that “I am where I am and I’m just gonna be where I’m at and I’m gonna proceed anyway and see what happens.”
2) UNRESOLVED…..leave it.
3) Profoundly allow yourself to feel anxious and just see what happens.
4) Be and feel weak and just go on with the day….accept and get used to it.
5) The only way is not to play.
Stay strong. I’ll be back to share more another day.