Ravaged By Time

Stay off social media or limit it to minimum views. Social media is the most toxic area on the internet. Somebody is going to make you mad and that is going to lead to anxiety. I used to get so upset over what I viewed as dumb posts and would comment on them and argue with the person. This lead to many anxiety attacks because I got my heart rate elevated by my anger. I remember when social media first started and I was on board. I got to reconnect to people that I went to school with and it seemed like a great way to keep in contact with people. The way that people use social media now is just atrocious but that is my opinion and you are intitled to view it any way you want. I know what works for me and what works for me may not work for others. We are all different and even medicine works differently on different people.

Talk about your anxiety. I started this blog four days ago and just by writing about anxiety has decreased the amount of attacks I am going through. Talking about your anxiety helps you stay aware of when it is approaching and then you can take measures to avoid the attacks. Therapy also helps in the same way plus you get tools from the therapist on how to deal with your anxiety. I shared the art of Qigong in my last blog and I highly recommend it.

Exercise also helps. This may sound counterproductive since I stated earlier that elevating your heart rate leads to anxiety. Exercise helps to clear the mind so while your heart rate is rising, your mind is clearing. Exercise also helps us feel better about ourselves and a more positive mindset keeps anxiety at bay.

Ground yourself. There are many ways to ground yourself. For many people it is nature or water that helps with this. My wife and I fall into this group. We live in the north of the United States so grounding ourselves in the winter months becomes difficult. During the summer my wife will paddle board and I will kayak and we go on lakes instead of rivers. We have kayaked and paddled three of the five great lakes. When it becomes too cold to get on the water we will then do nature hikes. The exercise and being in nature helps us keep a positive attitude.

Find a positive spin on everything. This is not always easy. I try to find what I call a win in every scenario, even if it is a bad situation. I have a different attitude when dealing with the loss of loved ones. I tend to lead toward “They are not hurting anymore” or something like that. I have lost jobs during my life and I tend to see those job losses as a chapter ending and another one starting. During our childhood our brains were programmed by our friends, family and teachers. It is up to us when we get older to reprogram our brains to things that fit us better. This is why many children of abusers grow up to be abusers. I grew up in an abusive household and instead of going that route myself, I made a vow to not become like them. My older brother did not take this approach and went the victim route and then took his life when he was 49. The victim mentality will always lead to depression and anxiety. I always try to recognize when I treat someone in a way that I would not like to be treated and make every effort to apologize to that person and take accountability for my actions. I would have to say that about 80% of the time I apologize the other person says that I did not do anything to make them upset. Many times it is just the other person being nice but I have seen a few shocked faces after these apologies.

Thank you for reading.

Until next time. Stay safe and aware.~Ravaged By Time