Do you ever suffer from a fearful thought you can't seem to
get out of your mind?
So what can be done for people who suffer from fearful thoughts?
To begin, lets look at how a fearful thought is powered, and then how to discharge that fearful thought quickly.
Say for example you are going about your daily business when a scary thought enters your mind. Maybe you fear you are about to have an anxiety attack. Maybe it's a fear about your health?
Whatever the fear, the pattern that follows is usually predictable. You start to feel a knot n your stomach as you contemplate the thought, and you get sucked into a repetitive thinking pattern of fear. The strong emotion (fear) then powers the thought. When the thought comes again, your body 'remembers' the strong emotion, and the fearful thought has an even stronger connection in your mind.
You may even continue to spend the rest of your day thinking about that fear. It can become very obsessive and may even keep you from concentrating on whatever is at hand.
SO how can you eliminate these unwanted anxious thoughts?
When you begin to obsess and worry about an issue it is very important not to force the thoughts away -let them in, they are harmless. The more comfortable you can become with them, the better. These thoughts will never go away fully, but what can change is your reaction to them.
Everybody experiences fleeting thoughts that many would consider scary or crazy. The difference between most people and somebody who gets over-anxiously caught up in them is that the average person sees them for exactly what they are - just thoughts and casually ignores them.
So let's take an example:
You are enjoying the way your day is going but, then all of sudden a fearful thought comes to mind. Traditionally you would have reacted with anxiety and tried to put that thought out of your mind - This time, however, say:
"That's an interesting idea -I could worry about that, but this time I'm going to do something different- I'm not going to react to it, but I'm also not going to try and stop it, either. I'm just going to watch the thought." Then the thought comes again, and once again you do exactly the same. As if you were observing a cloud passing overhead, you simply watch it as it passes by. No judgment. Just observe.
Just watch it, then go about your daily business. See it for what it is, one of the thousands of fleeting sane and insane thoughts every one of us experiences daily.
For some, it helps to imagine the thoughts as if you are watching them on a large cinema screen and the thoughts are projected out in front of you. You watch them but you don't react to them.
Now comes the real trick to turning this situation to your advantage. When things are going well and you are not worrying about anything in particular, actually invite one of your more regular fearful thoughts in!
Call the fear to you -say you just want it to come close to observe - and again sit back and examine it.
It may seem like the last thing you would wish to bring upon yourself, as you don't particularly enjoy the thoughts. But this approach can be very empowering. You are now calling the shots this time - you actually invited the issue in. This immediately discharges the fear of the thing that is worrying you.
The fear comes when we pull against it like in a tug of war. It is the mental struggle that creates the tension. It is the mental conflict of saying
"I don't want to think about this"
"I don't like that thought- I want it to go away" that causes us the anxiety and stress.
Invite them in willingly and you suddenly place yourself in a unique position of control that you may have never felt you had before. You are no longer a victim of fearful thinking but a decision maker in what you will or will not be concerned about.
Use this technique for any thought about which you find yourself worrying about. It will disempower it immediately and leave you feeling in control.
As with every technique there is always a level of practice involved in the beginning. Initially you may fall into the trap of getting anxious about the fearful thought itself.
But keep at it. Practice inviting the fear and you will quickly see how less impacting those fearful thoughts becomes.
The internal battle is over, as you no longer struggle to resist the thought.
Always remember that there is a lot of hope for an immediate and successful recovery from all forms of panic attacks and anxiety disorders. You can have the life of your dreams.
Anxiety does not have the right to steal that hope from you.