Talk about it

Tuesday June 1, 2021

A few years ago at work I was experiencing anxiety towards the end of my lunch period fairly often. Something about having to work the final half of the day just really freaked me out. I was nervous, scared, unsure of my ability to stay rational and focused while I performed my work. And every time this happened I had little choice but to power through it and work the rest of the day.

At some point I realized that I could manage these feelings. Fortunately for me I seemed to experience my late lunch time anxiety less often. I became curious as to how often this happened and to what extent and I wanted to see if there was a pattern that would help me possibly find the trigger so I could manage my stress better. I talked to my best friend, a mental health guru and he suggested something that I did some research on. I decided to track my anxiety on a calendar and assign a level of intensity for each episode. What I discovered was that my anxiety was shy because when I was watching for it, it went away. It has been months and my lunches are anxiety free and I think the reason that is is because I talked about it.

So if there is something in your life that is bothering you, talk about it. Like a quote from a stern father in a John Cusack movie, "If there is no plan, there is no attack. If there is no attack, there is no victory." Talk about it.