Anxiety Is Good For My Heart, That’s Why I Am Dying.

If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times. ~Dean Smith

Anxiety is ever present. And this is not just in the world outside of us, but it is ever present in our individual lives. How can we deal with extreme stress or the constant worry that pervade our lives?

Anxieties are real. Sometimes well meaning people may say to us, “Snap out of it. What’s wrong with you, you are bigger than that situation.” Or, “Why are you allowing that little thing to stress you out?” At times, just saying this may be all that is needed to get us out of that state; and a change in thought patter. There is the occasion though when we need a bit more than that.

Anxiety has its tentacles in areas such as phobias, fear and panic to name a few. In some cases, I know of persons who experience persistent anxiety and are in need of medication. And wants prescribed by a medical practitioner I will encourage all to take these as directed.

I could recall experiencing high levels of anxieties in my own life. One of the occasions had to do with a final examination. This was a final exam for my Masters of Arts programme. I had studied for this exam for many months. In spite of the evidence, that I had done all I could have done to prepare, still the stress was there. And what made this period so stressful? Well firstly, burning in my mind was whether I was good enough to pass. The fear of failure was crippling at times, even affecting some of my study periods. Secondly, on my brain was the idea of not knowing what to experience on that day. I mean, the areas that questions were to come from, were told to us. Still I felt as though this was not enough. Third, I knew if I had failed, I will have had to pay to write it over. Further, I will have had to wait for another year before I could get this opportunity again. So much was on my mind.

Well, I wrote the exam and passed. But the pounding of my heart and the difficulty sleeping were real. So I know what anxiety can feel like.

In spite of all that is going on around you. Really try to reduce high levels of anxiety. It can affect more than your heart and blood pressure, pushing your body to the edge. Anxiety can affect your sleep and influence moods, eating habits and relationships with others.

Here are three (3) helpful tips to preventing anxiety:
1. Confronting fear.
2. Managing conflicts.
3. Talking with a friend, spouse or accountability partner.

Do you believe there are other methods to prevent anxiety in life?