We have to guard are thoughts vigilantly. Our thinking will affect our emotions which then may affect our actions. For those of us prone to anxiety, we are challenged on a regular basis with fearful thoughts wanting to bubble to the surface. If we are not in a real centered place, these fear bubbles can surface and cloud our peace of mind. If we are centered, the thought bubbles don’t stand a chance. They are not able to form or if they do they pop quickly. Poof! Fear, you are gone.

When do you feel you are most vulnerable to having fearful thoughts? I think for many of us it is when:

1. We are faced with some kind of pending or present change.
2. We are in limbo about something due to indecision or just uncertainty in present circumstances (will you get the job offer or not? etc.)
3. Financial worries
4. Worries about health
5. Worries about the current events: the economy, disasters, etc.
6. Feeling we are not good enough
7. Feeling out of place, not fitting in
8. Being in a strange place or around people we don’t know
9. Being in crowds
10. When our personal safety feels threatened
11. Doing something new, for the first time

When we feel the fear and we have the anxious thoughts churning around we have a few choices to make:

1. We can let the fearful thoughts take over: cloud our judgment, put us into a panicked state, a shut down state, a depressed state, affect our self confidence, we can’t sleep, etc.
2. We can observe the fear and just take a neutral stance about it. For instance, think of your fear as bubbles that are flying up in the air and you know that it is just a matter of time that they will pop. Poof! Vanish- they are gone. You can treat these bubbles like you would clouds passing in the sky or tweets on Twitter coming and going down the news feed on your computer screen. They are a regular event that comes and goes. They are impermanent. They pass.
3. A third option is to be more aggressive about it. Take a no fear bubbles allowed approach. This is possible if you can catch the fearful thoughts as soon as they begin to surface. You can tell yourself “cancel!”.  You can think of something else. You can work out at the gym or take a brisk walk. You can think of a solution to whatever is causing your fear and take action. You are smacking those bubbles gone!

None of us are perfect. We are all going to face fear on a regular basis. It is part of the human condition. What we do about it will greatly impact the quality of our lives.

Debra : )

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