Sharing Best Way To Deal With Anxiety
Practically everyone is dealing with some form of anxiety at the moment. The anxiety disorder stats are quite depressing, and only cover the part of the population that can afford healthcare and treatment. Or those actually speaking to a professional to try to get help. Millions more don't for a multitude of reasons - with shame being one of the biggest.
When we work toward positively connecting with others, we start awakening the positive force dwelling in nature into the connections we create. Then feel a new sense of faith and confidence wash away any anxieties that we might be holding inside.
So many posts here about 2022 not being the greatest or being a very challenging year. A year where great obstacles were overcome and we came out stronger. I'm glad to hear that because it was just a tiny sneak preview of what we can expect in the future. Other posts about not feeling the "happy" in Happy New Year after great family tragedies.
There was a cute post about how having dogs in the workplace can be a great source of comfort. And I'm a huge dog lover. But you know what the difference is between us and other creatures? We can share what's going on with others. We can talk about our feelings. I know many people talk to their dog about their feelings but that doesn't count. We humans are the speaking part of nature - the highest level of this system we're in. So in order to reap all the benefits, we're going to need to speak a lot. Even when we don't feel like it. We'll force ourselves because we'll be 100% of how good it is for us to interact with others in a positive way.
How Sharing Lightens the Load
A colleague recently told me that when they discussed their anxieties with someone close to them, the moment they started opening up to that other person, the anxiety decreased—even before any advice or support had been provided. Just sharing already lifted the load.
I really believe that our togetherness has the power to decrease anxiety. When we're sharing a sensation or a bad experience, it sort of divides the load between those listening, which somehow makes it more manageable. What do people always do on condolence calls? Listen and acknowledge the family's grief, which helps them air some of their bad feelings, and really does lift the load.
When we're sharing a sensation or a bad experience, it sort of divides the load between those listening, which somehow makes it more manageable.
It's so clear that sharing our experiences lessens our negative feelings. And since it works so well - the question must be asked. Why don't we use this ability more often? Why is it so difficult to share our fears and anxieties with others? And why don't we learn how to do this from a very young age?
Of course we're all afraid of opening our hears, or letting everyone see our "weaknesses" - i.e. the fears and anxieties we're dealing with. But it's become quite trendy for big leaders to share everything they're going through, and even the biggest CEO's in the world have dealt with crippling anxiety that prevented them from functioning.
Apart from the actual fears and anxieties we're dealing with at any moment, we also have additional anxieties about sharing them with others. This is mainly about how it will impact our image. What will people think, and how it will alter their perception of us.
We need to consciously create social environments that won't exploit us for opening up, but rather provide us with the faith and confidence that it will be possible for us to deal with any negative feelings there.
We're a society that rewards stronger, smarter, wealthier and fitter individuals. So opening up about our anxieties in our competitive environment puts us in a vulnerable position because our masks come off. This is precisely why we need to consciously create social environments that won't exploit us for opening up, but rather provide us with the faith and confidence that it will be possible for us to deal with any negative feelings there.
A social setting that can guarantee faith and confidence in its members is one that actively draws itself to the upper good and benevolent force—the force of love, bestowal and connection. It is this very same force that awakens negative feelings in us, whether they are fears, anxieties or several other painful sensations. In order for us to draw closer to that good force, and we need to come closer together. And the main thing bringing us together these days is our need to express how we're feeling, and be heard by another human.
So how can we get that sense of fulfillment we're all seeking? By connecting with the upper force and letting its perfect quality of love, bestowal and connection fill our lives with a sensation of faith and confidence. We get it by emulating these qualities in our relations with others - by boosting their faith and confidence, and them doing the same toward us.
In a nutshell, when we work toward positively connecting with others, we start awakening the positive force dwelling in nature into the connections we create. Then feel a new sense of faith and confidence wash away any anxieties that we might be holding inside.
So it turns out that all our fears and anxieties are locked inside that narrow and limited space of the ego. Once we learn to break past it, we can access the good forces that will wash all our fears and uncertainties about the future away.