When I decided to write this post, I wanted to find a quote that could accurately describe what it was I wanted to explain to you.  It’s interesting how when you start looking for something, it shows up.  The old saying of when the student is ready the teacher appears has truth.  Here is the quote I was looking for.

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. ~Buddha

To better understand this quote, it is important to  understand that your thoughts are things.  They shape your beliefs, your feelings, and thus shape your behavior and actions.  Like the Buddha mentioned…Your thoughts make your world.

ARE YOUR THOUGHTS BASED ON LOGIC OR EMOTION?

If your thoughts shape your world then a question worth asking yourself would be, what is it that you think about most?  What does your world (thoughts) look like? Is it one full of fear, anxiety, and worry? Or is it one of control, joy, and peace? Are your thoughts based on logic or emotion?

For years I thought there was something seriously wrong with me.  My anxiety symptoms made me beleive that I was having a heart attack.  It surely felt like I was… racing heart, chest pains, cold sweats and dizziness.  I also for many years feared losing control and worst yet not being able to breath and dying.  But were my thoughts based on logic or emotion?

KNOW THY SYMPTOMS

At the time I did not know what anxiety and panic were , nor did I know what would trigger heightened anxiety or a panic attack, so when I started to experience the symptoms associated with such disorders, my mind began to race and I began to think of all what could be wrong with me.  It seemed logical at the time, after all there must had been something wrong with me in order for me to feel the way I did? I mean c’mon a “normal” person doesn’t just wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and shaking uncontrollably, do they?  Sure they do! Especially if they are under enough stress and incredibly anxious like I was. The midnight wakes and cold sweats were simply symptoms alerting me that something was out of line or better yet was out of order ( hence the term….disorder).

When you are not aware that you have anxiety or what your anxiety symptoms are, your thoughts will begin to race, and negative thoughts will bombard your mind adding fuel to fire. A racing heart now becomes a thought of having a heart attack. A feeling of a lump in your throat turns into a full blown panic of not being able to breath.

These negative thoughts only add to rationalize the symptoms in a negative light, making them more powerful…more real.  Your mind has a great way of making what you think about most become real.  If you think that you cannot breath, your mind will bring forth that reality by making the feeling of the lump in your throat that much more intense to the point where you are gasping for air.

Remember, with our thoughts we shape our world.  How we perceive our symptoms and how we think about them will shape the way we feel and act. For exampl, if you are not aware that caffein can cause you to experience a  racing heart or feel flush than perhpas after drinkign coffee you might start to think that something is wrong with you, without first taking a deeper look at what is really happening…which is the caffeine consumed through the coffee is now producing these physical symptoms and not that you are losing control or going to die.

AWARENESS IS KEY

It wasn’t until I became aware of what anxiety and panic attacks were that I was finally able to control the negative thoughts that would come from experiencing the physical symptoms.  Once I understood what symptoms came from heightened anxiety and what could trigger them, it was easier for me to take a step back when I felt my anxiety getting out of hand.  I could look at my symptoms from a point of logic rather than emotion.  Instead of assuming the worst, I would begin asking myself a few key question to pinpoint why I may be experiencing a sudden heightened level of anxiety. Questions like….

1. What stresses have I had lately? (work, money, personal….)
2. Have I consumed any caffeine? (coffee, tea, energy drinks)
3. What have I eaten lately? Was it mostly fast food or processed foods?
4. Have I been getting enough sleep lately?
5. Did I drink any alcohol recently?

All these questions would help me find something that may be the cause of the symptoms I was feeling.  Once I found what may have triggered my heightened anxiety, I was then able to recognize that there wasn’t anything wrong with me and that I wasn’t going to lose control or die.  I was now able to take control of my thoughts and instead of thinking negatively towards what wasn’t, I was now able to think logical to what was.  This allowed me to remain in control and eliminate the heightened anxiety and prevent any sort of panic attack.