I am in awe of Scott Stossel's book on anxiety and find his research, personal narrative and insight brilliant. I too have experienced my share of anxiety and so his writing has been revelatory for me. I don't typically seek anxiety producing situations, but one black hole for me can be a library book that is overdue. Every minute that it sits in my house past it's due date I feel an odd pressure until a larger worry surfaces due to my inertia. (Along with racking up fines- which is its own kind of wanton excess at .25 per day- but I digress.) Sometimes a purchase is the way to go in the end.
Ha! The other day, I was in charge of the TV remote, which I never am, I always hand it to my kids. I was speeding through the commercials and was feeling a little anxious. What if I didn't hit the stop button at just the right moment so I missed a few seconds of the TV show? As if that couldn't be easily fixed. Yet I almost gave the remote to someone else and realized that's why I always handed it to my kids ....
ReplyDeleteMy truly big fear is driving. (I wrote about it here: http://fewbricksshy.blogspot.com/2014/01/fearing-fear-itself.html) I used to not drive at all. Now I'll drive everywhere except freeways.
You mentioned in your older post actively finding calming things. One that works for me: going to the gym. It allows me to work off the crazy energy that I would otherwise spend worrying about things.