Of War & Peace - Anxiety, do we have to fight?

Let me ask you a question.

Was war ever a #calming situation?

Or,

When was attacking, fighting or any act of aggression a #relaxing and #peace inducing process?

I mean, just think about it.

In any conflict there is a possibility you might lose.

And yet do a search for #anxiety and #stress and everywhere the language is militant.

• Fight Anxiety

• Fighting Anxiety

• Win the battle with anxiety

• Fighting the battle with anxiety

• Anxiety war

All just some of the terms that come up when you look for help with anxiety. Do they make you feel relaxed, does it sound easy? I mean, in any conflict you could be the loser, and, if you read all the stories of long ago the warrior always dies, so why be an anxiety warrior? Why fight?

If we look at the world at present. The Ukraine war, thousands of warriors dying on both sides, civilians being injured and killed, children dying. Or closer to home, last year a street fight between two people in Derbyshire ended up with a man dying.

I think we only have to watch the #news to realise that conflict, battles, fighting are not a good thing, and most definitely not in general good for us.

And yet we take this attitude of fighting anxiety, whether it is personally or in the #workplace. The real kicker is that anxiety is a perfectly natural part of you. So when you are fighting anxiety you are fighting yourself and there has to be a loser. And, if you are both sides of a war, there will always be a sense of loss. Not a very healthy or #holistic approach to wellbeing when we stop and think about it.

It is only a way of expressing things I hear you say, but reality is how we define it. If you have anxiety do you want to spend years in a battle or would you rather begin to learn how to develop inner peace and calm? Thing is, if you have #innerpeace and #calm , you cannot have anxiety, the two cannot exist within you at the same time.

Some of the most successful protests (yes, a protest is also a fight) have been those that have been peaceful, where the people who were doing the fighting stepped away from aggression and conflict and turned towards education. Informing people as to the bigger picture, helping people learn that things can be different.

Just take a moment and reflect which of these two statements feels better, notice which triggers a sense of release, ease and relaxation.

• I am continuing to battle against my anxiety. I shall keep fighting.

• I have learnt how to develop a deep sense of inner peace, and calm.

When I used to do therapy (now I focus on mind coaching ) it was always about the battle, always about fighting the illness. Except anxiety is not an illness, it is a human emotion and quite a useful one. It lets us know when things need our attention, or when we need to be a little cautious. It is a throw back to when there were animals out there that quite liked to eat us. Yes, it can for a while get out of control, but fighting something that causes a fight and flight response is never going to aid the situation, only add to the stress.

Now I still work with people who are doing anxiety, (it is an activity.) But now it is about learning how to foster a deeper sense of calm, relaxation and peace and helping people ground themselves. Remember, you cannot be anxious and peaceful at the same time, so rather than fight all the time which is exhausting, is it not time to begin to learn how to develop inner peace, and how to maintain it.

Take any conflict that has ever been. The enormous cost in resources, money and life. Would it not have been better to have found away to ground the situation and maintain a state of peace instead. And where better would your energy and resources be placed if you were not struggling, battling and fighting with yourself?

If you have been battling with or fighting with anxiety and this article has resonated with you then why not get in touch and have a chat.