We have almost constant mental chatter in our heads. When we are in the anxiety state and highly sensitized, this chatter is loud and negative. If we wish to recover, then we must change this internal dialog. That’s what I did. There are many things I told myself during my journey to recovery from anxiety.
This is part of the process of building our Inner Voices of Truth and Acceptance, and removing the power of our Voice of Fear.
Being Honest with Myself
To build the Voice of Truth, we must first understand the truth about anxiety, and then we need to remind ourselves of it over and over. Here are some examples of things I said to be honest with myself and build the Voice of Truth:
- I struggle with anxiety.
- I am having a hard time.
- I do this to myself.
- I am struggling to face my symptoms.
- I’m struggling to accept.
- It’s OK to struggle; I just need to practice facing and accepting as best I can.
- I feel I may never be able to get past this, but I know I will, it’s just a feeling that I won’t.
- Anxiety is not serious, in fact it’s just a bluff.
- It’s safe to let go, to surrender.
Being Kind to Myself
To build the Voice of Acceptance, we must first stop beating ourselves up and being so hard on ourselves. We need to let go of judgments and expectations and let everything happen. These are some of the things I told myself in order to be kind to myself and build the Voice of Acceptance:
- You did the best you could.
- You made a mistake. It happens.
- You’re not perfect (Nobody is. So, you are just like everyone else).
- You don’t need to be perfect. Just have good intentions, and do the best you can.
- It’s OK to be ________ (e.g. anxious, vulnerable, angry, sad, frustrated, lonely, in despair etc.)
- It’s OK to show your feelings.
- There is no shame in suffering from anxiety. It is not a sign of weakness, and it is very common.
- It’s safe to let trusted people know you have anxiety.
- Don’t force things. But don’t give up either. Find a balance and move gently forwards.
- View your attempts themselves as the success, regardless of the outcome.
