I had been sugar and flour free for six weeks, but went off the rails for almost a week during my birthday and travel. This Sunday I made the firm decision that enough was enough and it was time to be fully sugar/flour free. The past three days instead of reaching for milk chocolate, I sat there, drank water, and felt what I was feeling. I was so moody, I was waiting for my husband to make me sleep on the couch. Fortunately, he didn't and this morning I finally began to feel grounded again.
Feeling negative emotions is something that I don't think we do well in the United States. Instead, we have cups that say be positive and books that tell us how to be happier. I get it, being happy is great and I love it when I am happy. However, I think feeling "positive" all the time is unrealistic and makes things so much harder when we are feeling a "negative" emotion.
Anxiety has been an emotion that has plagued me throughout my career in nursing and started in nursing school. I hated how it felt in my body. I hated feeling the tightness in my neck, shoulders, and chest. I hated feeling the knots in my stomach. While I did have times where I wasn't anxious at all, there were times where I felt like I had no control over when the anxiety would pop up. So when it did, I would eat my emotions, vent about it to my friend, or through exercise.
This cycle repeated itself for almost twelve years. My problem was that I believed my emotions were because of circumstances outside of myself. Because I couldn't control the situations that happened, I had no control over my anxiety. What changed everything was learning this: All Emotions Start with A Thought.
My job wasn't making me anxious OR everyone including the CEO would be anxious too! It sounds so simple but this blew my mind. This is why other people were calmer than me or more stressed out than me in different situations. It was because of what they were making the situation mean for them.
So how did I stop being anxious at work? I started paying attention to EXACTLY what I was thinking and how it was making me show up. If I didn't like what I was doing, I would challenge my thinking. For example, if I was worried that people didn't like me. I would ask myself if thinking that helped me and if not, what could I think instead. It is so simple and I kept applying this to every situation where I felt anxious. It wasn't long before my anxiety started disappearing. I became more confident and relaxed at work.
P.S.
Emotions can not hurt you, but your thoughts can. If you are like me and want to stop feeling anxious at work, sign up with a free one on one session that will help you stop feeling anxious and more in control at work.
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