There are many articles and news stories about the current anxiety epidemic. In my years of working with anxious clients, I’ve discovered that anxiety has less to do with the factual conditions of people’s lives and more to do with the mindset they hold.
Regularly thinking about and reporting on the negative has been so deeply ingrained in most of us, that changing our view of ourselves and the world can seem utterly foreign.
We have put on very dark lenses.
We can start to change by mindfully answering the question “How are you doing?”
When I’m working with clients, I check in and ask them how they’re doing. I usually get down-in-the-mouth responses like, “I’m doing…” or “It’s going….”
Their responses often reflect a reluctance to acknowledge that some things may be going well. That’s because like most of us, they’ve been taught to have a negative perspective of life.
So, I ask my clients to review some of their current conditions…
The truth is that most of them are reasonably healthy and live in a decent home (Not a cardboard box under a bridge). All of them own a car and can drive anywhere they want. They can move about freely; they have climate-controlled homes with running water; they can even make the water hot or cold at will.
I point this out not to minimize challenges and legitimate problems; my goal is to promote a more balanced perspective of life that does not subscribe to the belief that most things are bad. Holding such a negative belief is not factual or helpful.
Are things going perfectly?
No
The point is that it’s easy to overlook fundamental positives, to focus on the negatives, and to decide that nearly everything is going poorly. When clients review the (overlooked) positive components, they usually acknowledge that things are going well.
This exercise is not just about telling the truth; by acknowledging that things are in fact going well, you will start to elevate your outlook and mood.
The best to you.