If you would have told me 2020-2022 would bring mental health concerns to the forefront of our existence as of our world, I would have said really?  Well, here we are, thank goodness we are on the backside of the great pandemic of the 21st century.  But along the way, the pandemic has left the global economy with 1+Trillion in lost productivity.  One word that has perpetuated the carnage is a star in its own right, Anxiety.  But why? 

First of all, let’s take a moment and define Anxiety.  What is it and how did become a part of our everyday conversations?  The anxiety definition is clear, a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease.  Understand this, you can look confident and speak with confidence and yet have anxiety.  You can look happy and put together and yet be miserable inside.  You can be good looking on the outside and yet feel ugly on the inside. 

So the question is, now that anxiety has come to the forefront of our consciousness, how do we maneuver through it?  There are a few techniques I have learned over the years.  Do these techniques always work?  NO.  Are the techniques worth trying?  Of course.  By the way, these techniques have brought me back from the depths of hell. 

The first technique is a life hack I like to call mirror mirror.  The only person that limits your life is you.  When you feel nervous, uneasy, or feel a sense of worry grab you, find a mirror.  Stand in front of the mirror and stare at yourself.  What do you see?  By that I mean, look beyond the skin, the color of your eyes, the color of your hair.  What do you see?  Who do you see?  Then breathe in as deep as you can.  Count to three and let it go.  Do this two more times.  What you are doing is breathing in the new energy and letting the old go. 

Now, look at yourself again and say “I Am….and follow it with the next word that pops into your head.  You may wish to say word choices like I Am amazing, I Am strong, I Am confident, I Am courageous.  Now take three deeper breathes in and count to three and let it go.  You have just successfully taken in the new and pushed out the old.

You can also take it one step further and recite the following:

Mirror mirror in front of me

I am starting to understand

The person staring back at me

Will be able to see

That what I think and do,

Can and will make the world anew.

Tell anxiety to move right along and do not let it grab a seat and make itself comfortable in your life.  Comfort kills and is a one way ticket to the grave.  Recognize anxiety is a part of life and will always be in existence.  When you choose to look at yourself and push through the anxiety you have opened a whole new level of existence.  Please remember, even though you believe you have the tools to push away anxiety, you are still an emotional being having a human experience.  Will life always be easy?  No.  But when you have the ability to change what you are looking at, what you are looking at changes.

Anxiety, take the last row on the plane because we are ready to FLY (First Love Yourself)!