Have you ever felt that knot in your stomach that just won’t
loosen, a feeling of discomfort and unease that lingers but you can’t put a
finger on why? Sometimes you feel like you can’t take a deep breath, there is a
niggling fear in the pit of your stomach and the back of your mind? What you
are feeling is anxiety: a state of anticipation, worry, or tension that
manifests itself in your body and mind.

It is not difficult to see why there is so much anxiety around: we are almost
regularly confronted by various stimuli that have the potency to trigger
feelings of anxiety. In the day and age of social media where picture after
picture of others happiness and success is plastered on our phones and our
minds, it is hard to get away from doubts about ourselves, our future, our
happiness. We are forced to confront our insecurities every other day, and it
is not a pleasant feeling.

When we come across
unpleasant situations or sensations, one of our most instinctive reactions is
to avoid it quickly and as much as possible or by ignoring the feeling, by
distracting ourselves or by trivializing it. The truth is that every time you
ignore that niggling feeling, the more powerful it seems to become. Imagine a
small monster in your mind that is asking for attention and every time you
don’t give it attention it grows bigger and its tantrums grow louder and more
persistent.

While it is uncomfortable and at times debilitating
state, the body has excellent ways of showing us that something needs to be
addressed. One of the interesting things about anxiety is that is sneaky;
sometimes it is hard to recognize when it has snuck up on you from behind, and
therefore difficult to identify its possible causes. When it comes to dealing
with life’s daily anxieties, the most surefire way to overcome it is to address
it.

Here are a few ways to do just that:

Address your anxiety
on paper. What are you feeling right this moment?

Is it a tightness in the stomach? Or a headache? Do you feel
anger? Shame? Sadness? Fear? Guilt? Jealousy? Experience your feelings, no
matter how unpleasant, not suppressing them. Put it down on paper. Even if
there is no clarity in the beginning, writing could be the catharsis you need.

Address your anxiety
by confiding in someone

Bring it up with someone you trust and who will listen.
Confide in them what you are worried about, how uncomfortable it feels, how
hard it is to deal with. Actively open up about it. The monster becomes less
scary when two people look at it inside and out in the broad daylight.

Address your anxiety
by clearing the background noise

Sometimes feeling anxious is synonymous with feeling messy and
disorganized. Target this from the outside, clean up your living space, or
organize your folders on your computer, or unclutter your closet. These
activities involve a literal clearing up of the mess and have a similar
cleansing effect on your mind.

Address your anxiety
every single time

Anytime you find yourself feeling tense, attend to it
immediately and look within to see where it might have come from. How often do
you find yourself feeling anxious? What happens when you do? What makes it feel
better? Ignoring anxiety makes it longer-lasting. Address it each time, and
you’ll find that it visits you less frequently and bothers you less when it
does.

There are a variety of other tools that can help you deal
with your anxiety: engaging in art, listening to music, meditation, simple
relaxation techniques. It does not matter what tool you use, as long as you
address it.

Pain seems like a terrible thing precisely because it hurts,
but in the human body serves as the extremely crucial function of informing us
that something is wrong and gives a signal that all is not well. The little
monster of anxiety is exactly like that. For as long as you don’t tend to where
it hurts, it will keep hurting. Anxiety itself is not the problem, it is the
signal that something is.

Do not be afraid of the little monster; it is a part of you and is
actually doing you a favor. If in the near future it is asking for your
attention, it seems safe to say that it warrants some.