Today is 9/11 and I already am distracted because for the past week I have been feeling a rise in my anxiety. During the first day it started, I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then it occurred to me that it is the time of year. But not just the Fall season or back to school. It is getting close to 9/11.
Many of us are affected by 9/11 in different ways. Many of us cope in different ways. I think I will always feel this anxiety because that was a moment in my life that has changed many, many things about the way we live.
How I Live With Anxiety As A Business Owner
As a blogger and an influencer, we have to share elements of our lives via social media. Most of the time, or probably 99% of the time, there are pictures and videos shared in a positive light. We are showcasing a product or a place that we enjoy and are having fun. Many times, I am not sharing the emotional challenges I am facing while trying to figure out my life as a blogger or an entrepreneur.
First, I want to tell you that I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I have right now to work as a consultant, a writer, a content creator, a brand ambassador, and the many hats I get to wear. Sometimes, with that comes challenges. I am struggling with ADHD. I will talk about that in a different blog post. But it is something that I knew I had for a while but I’m now trying to find out how to best live with it and not have it trigger more anxiety.
I have been living with anxiety for many, many years. There have been some tragic events in my life that have made it worse, but I am learning how to manage my anxiety. Since having children, I have to admit that I think it has been harder because now I have two precious lives that I want to always protect.
With so much hate in the world today, I am anxious every time my children get on the bus. I am at the bus stop with them almost every day. When the bus drives off a piece of my heart drives off too. After Sandy Hook, I was very scared to send my kids to school again.
Here Are A Few Steps For How I Live With Anxiety
Keep A Gratitude Journal
I started writing in my gratitude journal last year. I have to admit that I haven’t been consistent with it. But I notice that when I need to reset my brain and get back in check with myself, starting my day with my journal is very helpful. When you feel grateful, you can’t feel negative at the same time.
Change Your Habits
I have been listening to the audiobook “Trust Your Intuition“. Instead of waking up, grabbing my phone and reading about everyone else’s lives on Facebook, I drink my hot lemon water, sit on the couch and talk with my son while he has breakfast before school.
It’s important to know that we CAN control how we start our day. We can set the tone ourselves. We can CHOOSE to be happy or not.
Have Something To Look Forward To
My husband and I love to travel to Disney. We love Disney so much that we got married there. Since our first trip there together we have always looked forward to our next trip. We would have 100-day countdowns until the trip. Then we would usually plan our next trip right after we returned home.
Now that we have kids, we plan our trips, but don’t have countdowns because we always surprise the kids. We surprise them because they love that. We did surprise them once the night before because we needed to finish up some last-minute packing and needed the kids’ help. That was a challenge because we had an early morning flight the next day and the children had a hard time falling asleep. (That’s another reason why we don’t tell them).
Since we don’t have the kids involved in our planning, it’s harder to have that something to look forward to; but we know it’s there. So instead I have to think of smaller things to look forward to. It may be something we do fun together on the weekend or knowing we are going to have a quiet night at home watching National Geographic shows on the couch with the kids. We have a busy life now with kids, so it’s the little things that make me happy.
Self Care
I have been working hard on carving out time for myself to do things that I enjoy outside of my family life. I started taking yoga classes again. My friend Bri teaches yoga in our local vineyard and at a local park. I love the vineyard yoga the most. It’s just two minutes away from my house and is the most relaxing experience.
Yoga has been helping me feel more grounded. It’s causing me to force myself to take a pause in my day and find some stillness. It’s also been a nice stretch for me after working so much at my desk.
Do you have anxiety? I used to feel weird about sharing it, but I’m learning that I am not the only one who goes through it. I’d love for you to share with me how you cope and manage your anxiety. Leave me a comment and share your tips and tricks to managing it.
