THOUGHTS 4

I want to share some tools that work to get me into the moment and stop anxiety from snow balling into a full-blown panic attack. One of them is called Real Time or Reality. Reality is not what is going on in your life right now, or today or next week! Reality is this very second and not even the next second, but right now. Real Time is knowing that the real reality is living inside of you right now. Jesus is the Real Reality. Everything beyond that is the wind and the waves!

If you are starting to feel anxiety the most important thing you have to do is to stop your head from racing by getting into the present moment and letting go of whatever "What if" is torturing you. Put it all in His hands and let it go. I know that sounds trite and easier said than done, but Real time is where we need to be to get into the moment and get out of our heads. We need to stop the racing thoughts that cause anxiety or fear from snowballing into a panic attack. Panic attacks or generalized anxiety is not a fun place to be!

First we need to look at everything that is around us in the natural at this very moment. Start saying in your mind what you see with your eyes, either out loud or in our minds, whichever way works best for you. Keep naming everything you can see around you with your eyes. Touch things where you are and say what you are touching. Focus on your breathing and your belling going up and down. Very soon your head will get out of the place that is causing the anxiety and you will be firmly planted in the moment. When the racing thoughts are under control then you will be able to take care of whatever you need to do.

I had this experience the other day where I was starting to feel very anxious, and I was quickly snow-balling toward an anxiety attack. My usual tools didn’t seem to be working for me. So, I paid attention to what was going on with me. I realized that at the same time I was trying to take care of the responsibility at hand, I also had this other conversation playing in my head with someone that I was really frustrated with. I was thinking that if it wasn’t for him, and if he would just listen to me, then I wouldn’t be in this situation. I was trying to get into the moment, but instead I found myself having this conversation in my head with this person that I am blaming for causing me all these problems. Then I realized I couldn’t get into the moment, into reality, into real time, because I was having this conversation in my head with someone who was not even there. If he wasn’t there with me, then it was impossible for me to be talking to him. I was not in the moment in reality. Stopping that other conversation going on in my head helped me get into the moment and focus on what I was doing.

I think anxiety comes when we are overwhelmed with a situation or from life events that might come at us all at once from different areas. Sometimes it is by our own doing and sometimes it is life that just happens to us, but our bodies get on overload. The problem is what we do with it in our heads. If we run from dealing with the feelings inside of us then they will come out of us some other way, by obsessive thinking, and obsessive, racing thoughts that can cause anxiety attacks.

It seemed like I was doing all the right things to get into the moment like I know to do, but I realized that the other conversation going on in my head with this person had to stop. If it didn’t stop they were going to be carrying me out of there kicking and screaming, and that was not a good alternative for me. I watched that happen to a co-worker once that was suffering from anxiety. It was not a good scene, so I told myself that the conversation needed to stop. That conversation was not going to be something helpful to have at all right now. I needed to focus on what I was doing, because it was very important stuff. I could only allow myself to focus on the task at hand. No other conversations were allowed. That is what I told my head. I told it "No." Then I stopped that thinking and focused on what needed to do get done, and all the anxiety diminished. Real reality is knowing that the Lord is inside of me and that is where I find my peace, in that very moment with Him. Realizing that all the "What If" crazy thoughts flying all over the place are not thoughts that can be reasoned with or thought through. No, they just need to stop! My mind had to tell my head to stop! Reasoning with insanity is not a sane thing to do. I know because I did it for years. My mind is very powerful and I can use it to accomplish many good things, but reasoning with the crazies in the head is not one of the good things and they will get me all messed up. I have dealt with these kinds of things for a long time and I know what I can and cannot allow to go on up in my head. I promise you that the locomotive going forward in the head with racing thoughts needs to be stopped by you. The hamster wheel spinning out of control needs to stop! You need to turn off that head from running forward and get yourself into the moment with Jesus. No matter what, if you learn to live there, in reality with Him, there is nothing in the future that you and the Lord can’t handle together.

Say to yourself, No! I will not engage with or entertain these conversations in my head. Then there is nothing that me and the Lord can’t handle together one second at a time! And that is what real really is!











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