My days have been really good - so I will wish the same for you!

Cindy

What gets me through my days is prayer and a stong belief in my faith in GOD. Try to stay in the good place you are in today by not letting any bad or negative thought take hold of you. Instead you take that thought captive like the bible says and bring it to Christ. I would get a thought in my head and run with it until it snowballed into me calling 911 because my panic would get so bad. I was online today because I was having heart flutters and my thoughts tried to get away from me but I am trying me best to not let them. Writing to you gets my mind off of it and knowing that I may be helping you makes me feel better. I hope you have a blessed day and I will pray for you while you are in Michigan. Dont loose hope, you are never alone in this. God Bless and take care. Your friend, Maria

I also have these thoughts about achieving “normalcy” — I’m really not looking for a free ride. Just a normal one!

For me I think the anxiety sets in (especially around health issues) if I find myself going back ‘in the tank’ over and over and each time seeing something worse.

For instance, today I had a pain in my lower back. We’ve been doing a lot of driving and walking up and down stairs with luggage. When I first felt it I thought “yeah, luggage.”

About 15 minutes later I felt it again and thought “hmm, I wonder if this is my kidney?”

In another 10 minutes I had a thought that I was in the middle of NOWHERE and what if I needed a hospital for kidney failure?

That was when I realized I was in anxiety rather than normalcy.

I shifted my position - physically and mentally. I supported my back, took two advil and we put on a book-on-tape to focus on. When I felt a little squeeze in my back I thought of the suitcases and the 22 steps at our last B & B.

It’s been hours now since I felt any pain or thought about it.

I think that is probably normal. The worry about hospitals and kidney failure was an invitation from my Anxiety to take a side trip!

Great post!

Thank you for this great post.

We all worry, that is a fact.

I think the degree to which worry can contribute to triggering fear and anxiety in someone is partly physical (biochemistry) and mental (habits, ways of being). At any given moment one’s mind and body are working together in specific states. Sometimes things are harmonious and one typically feel well. Other times one may not feel so well and fear and anxiety enter the picture.

The anxiety can cause a great deal of worry and “dwelling” on those thoughts for some time. The triggers can come from a variety of places and for those of us who live with anxiety we get more in tune with what those are over time.

I find that simple awareness of one’s own tendency to worry and dwell, to be anxious and fearful, is a very important step in living in harmony with one’s anxiety. Anxiety will never go away entirely, but to be aware of it when it arises is the first step towards a more peaceful, and ‘normal’ existence.

It is normal to worry, just be present to it and remember that ultimately worrying solves nothing.

A