Flexibility Staves Off Anxiety

Flexibility is a main ingredient in countering anxiety

Anxiety usually wants us to think that we need something a certain way "or else." (Not that it tells us what the unsavory consequences are: Anxiety is always vague, never clear. This is how it holds it's power.)

So when things don't happen that certain way, darn it, that good-for-nothing Anxiety has us all up in arms. Tied in a knot. Fumbling and immobilized. Discombobulated.

Things variating from the plan is Anxiety most used excuse to come in and come in heavy. "Oh no, " we think. "I can't handle this." Anxiety ensues. (You knew you could handle the plan, but this is a curve ball. Can you strike it?)

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And, the wisdom to know the difference.

We help Anxiety hold this power over us by believing the nonsense it feeds us. We have to believe we can't handle it, for it to work.

When things change, flow with it

Things are always changing. Nothing ever stays the same. We already have the skills to be flexible, or we wouldn't be alive today. Whether we are aware of it or not, we manage, (handle) change constantly. When we don't notice it, our skills are rendered invisible. But that doesn't mean they are not there.

Too often we claim. "I don't do well with change." And I think, Yes, you do, you do it every second, this is just an excuse you use to protest something you didn't bargain for. It is a belief that makes us feel more out of control than ever.

Being flexible is being in control

What if we started noticing our skills in being flexible? Let's embrace the control we do have instead of lamenting the control we don't have. Which is the more important anyway? What we can do or what we cannot do? Immobile or mobile?

Here are some ways to be flexible:

1. Have a plan for other possibilities. Expect them, don't fear them.

2. Try to see other meanings to what is happening. There are usually other ways to see this situation, other perspectives that help relieve some tension, anxiety, and self-blame.

3. Get the opinion of someone you trust. Other people have the distance to see things differently than we see them.

4. Allow yourself to feel upset. Don't judge yourself for feeling the loss of the original plan. This create judgment and it breeds more anxiety. When you allow yourself you go through it faster.

5. Adjust your attitude. Make some lemonade with those lemons. Think of something else that would work. Use your creativity. Think of it as a challenge or an adventure. (There is a fine line between anxiety and adventure.)

6. Trust Yourself. You can handle this. Trust is the most important element.

How flexible are you?

By Jodi Lobozzo Aman

I blog here: Heal Now and Forever Be In Peace
and here: Anxiety-Schmanxiety Blog,
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