How can I worry less and enjoy life more?

Anxiety can be a good thing. Yes, you read that right. Because we can change how we think about Anxiety and how we approach it, and that will change our lives for the better. These days, everyone feels stress at times, but there are things we can do to deal with anxiety better.

How can you lessen the pain of anxiety you feel every day?

Accept that anxiety is a normal part of everyday life

Anxiety disorder is the most common mental issue in the U.S. Severe clinical anxiety affects one in three adults, and the rate for teenagers is 70% higher than that. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, because we all struggle with stress at times. Yes, everyone; we just don’t talk about it.

Change anxiety from a problem to an opportunity

When we accept that anxiety is a normal part of life rather than something to be feared, it gives us the power to change how we think about it. We can learn to see anxiety as a trigger to make a positive adjustment in our life, and we can change those negative thoughts into positive steps.

Learn how to deal with anxiety one step at a time

Anxiety is a range of feelings from tension to worry to stress. It’s a spectrum, and we’re all on it. The key is to accept that it’s okay not to be okay. Then to learn positive steps we can take when we are affected by anxiety, which gives us an assurance we can change our lives for the better.

Here are other useful resources to help you lessen your anxiety:

• “Dealing with Stress More Effectively” (online toolkit of related articles)
• “How to Live Life Better in an Anxious World” (video of an in-person talk)

This is the first of a series of articles on five ways we can effectively deal with anxiety, so watch for more to come. STEPS will then also deliver an online toolkit of resources on this topic. 

Next Right Steps: Commit to go through at least one of the other useful resources above.