How can I cope with anxiety during the COVID19 lockdown?
If you are at home, feeling anxious about your job, finances, or if you have a relationship problem, or something else that is making you worry, you might also be suffering from anxiety. Anxious feelings are normal during these unprecedented times of COVID 19 and the lockdown. The problem is that we feel out of control and its a threat to our survival and security.
Sometimes anxious feelings are normal. And it is reasonable to feel anxious when we first find ourselves in a situation such as COVID 19 lockdown time. Who wouldn’t be concerned if they are confined to one area, can’t mix with friends and family maybe had lost their job, or their future was uncertain? However, a problem may arise if these feelings continue for any length of time because we can feel out of control, anxious or just down in the dumps.
Using our past learning and achievements can help. Resilience is vital to balance out the difficult times, but we all need a bit of help sometimes. Yet some people find it difficult to explain just how they are feeling.
Anxiety might be difficult to describe
Many people have described anxiety to me. Here is a list of words that some people might use to explain it.
Suffocating, overwhelming, controlling, crippling, debilitating, pervasive, irrational, nagging, annoying, frustrating, persistent, like hell, misunderstood, scary, fearful, constant, unpredictable, overpowering, draining, dreadful, constricting, destructive, and challenging.
If these negative thoughts and feeling are persistent, do not hesitate to get help. You can talk to someone and always contact your doctor for a diagnosis.
There are lots of ways to reduce anxiety. One way is to be inspired by things that are said from positive people or something that you might read that will inspire you.
Today I want to help you to feel inspired to accept what you can’t change and change what you can transform into a more positive mindset.
Time to change
We all need to reassess things and change to feel better. Maybe it’s changing something practical, physics, emotional or just having the attitude of change.
Springtime is inspiring for me. It helps me focus on change and all the beautiful things around us. Life doesn’t need to be full of anxiety and doom and gloom even in these awful times. Let the light shine through.
What can I do to help myself if I’m feeling anxious?
Listen, yes, listen to things and just notice all the beautiful sounds around, not just the negativity on the daily news.
During Spring, look around and see what has started to grow and flower. Notice things outside your problem. Notice the details of your surroundings. Notice the things that you have been missing. Get focused in the here and now. This new focus might mean doing some relaxation or a hobby or exercise.
Sometimes a photograph, a picture, or just imagining something useful can help you to feel better.
Quotes for inspiration
Here are ten quotes from me sent to you to inspire you to change and feel better. Also, there are ten quotes from others that I have found inspiring, and I hope you do too!
- ‘Stop letting other people make you feel anxious’. Linda Witchell
‘You can say no to people who make you feel bad about yourself. To people who backstab you or make you feel miserable in any way’. James Altucher
- ‘Negative thoughts can make us feel anxious, so why hold on to them?’ Linda Witchell
‘You don’t have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop allowing them to control you.’ Dan Millman
- ‘Stop imagining the worst. Let go of the past to let go of anxiety’. Linda Witchell
‘Present fears are less than horrible imaginings’. William Shakespeare.
- ‘We always have choices in life, but we don’t see them due to worry’. Linda Witchell
‘Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.‘ Henry Ward Beecher
- ‘Keep learning to keep moving even if it’s moving to stop and reflect’. Linda Witchell
‘If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.‘ Martin Luther King, Jr.
- ‘Be the best you can and help others to know it too’. Linda Witchell
‘Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.‘ Maya Angelou
- ‘Just be you, you are good enough’. Linda Witchell
‘The universe doesn’t allow perfection.‘ Stephen Hawking
- ‘Worry is wasted energy, so stop the negative flow’. Linda Witchell
‘It ain’t no use putting up your umbrella till it rains!‘ Alice Caldwell Rice
- ‘You will get past the unwanted anxiety, believe it, and it will happen’. Linda Witchell
‘Nothing is permanent in this wicked world — not even our troubles.‘ Charlie Chaplin
- ‘Just take a few breaths of peace’. Linda Witchell
‘Slow breathing is like an anchor riding in the midst of an emotional storm; the anchor won’t make the storm go away, but it will hold you steady until the storm passes.’ Russ Harris.
I hope this helps
Linda
