As hard as it may be to believe, you can create fresh starts despite anxiety. Anxiety is hard to live with in part because it's so unforgiving. We berate ourselves for perceived mistakes and worry that we've completely ruined "everything." Self-blame, guilt, and even self-loathing dominate. Anxious thoughts try to convince us that there's no going back and nothing can be fixed or changed. In reality, there are fresh starts even when we have anxiety. It's never too late to begin anew.  

Art is an interesting thing. All of us are aware of – and can personally attest to – having their lives changed after having read a book or heard a song. What’s surprising is how this impact can come from the most unexpected of sources.

Anxiety has a yin and a yang, which, when embraced, can help you find the balance that reduces anxiety. Originating from ancient Chinese philosophy, yin and yang are complementary forces, opposite but not oppositional. They are balancing energies that can at once both soothe and strengthen. Everything and everyone has yin and yang, including anxiety and its reduction. Anxiety's (and anxiety management's) yin and yang, its balancing forces, are acceptance and action. You can use acceptance and action to soothe your anxiety and move ahead into your quality life. 

Because Thanksgiving is so close, I wanted to discuss how anxiety has done something positive and made me realize how thankful I am for many things in my life. Though mental illness is seldom framed positively, they can give you a valuable perspective that people who aren’t mentally ill don’t have.

It's important to build self-respect to help you reduce anxiety. One of anxiety's most damaging effects is that it makes it difficult for people to respect themselves. We question ourselves and worry about disapproval. Out of worry and fear of causing problems, we sometimes become people-pleasers. As such, we tend to avoid saying "no" and setting limits in general. This, in turn, increases anxiety and can further erode self-respect. You're not doomed to being a yes-person forever, though. Setting limits is a skill you can learn and you can build self-respect and reduce anxiety in the process. 

When you’re anxious, don't give up. Sometimes you just feel bad – oftentimes you don’t even know why you feel as bad as you do. Those can often be the worst days because if you don’t know where the bad feeling is coming from, it can seem impossible to control.

"Anxiety says everything is my fault." This is a common lament and source of great stress for people living with anxiety. Believing that you're to blame for everything bad that happens--big or small--to people you care about is an effect of anxiety that is often overlooked.This form of self-blame is closely associated with depression. The feeling that "everything is my fault" is also very much part of anxiety. Understanding the relationship between anxiety and self-blame can help you recognize it and begin to separate yourself from the erroneous belief that it's all your fault. 

Anxiety and laziness seem unseemly because social pressure tells us it’s not okay to be lazy -- or anxious. We tend to value productivity and activity – if we don’t get as much out of the day as we can, we can be looked down upon. However, anxiety and laziness can go together, and it's okay to be lazy when you're anxious.

I try to visit my childhood home, my peaceful sanctuary, at least once every few weeks. I’ve fallen behind on those visits recently, due to working through the logistics of my anxiety-provoking move. With the move out of the way, last weekend I was able to visit my peaceful sanctuary for the first time in nearly two months.

Knowing how to make moving less stressful can make the difference between a touch of anxiety and an overwhelming amount of anxiety. Moving is a logistical nightmare. Finding a new place, getting all your stuff packed, hauling it out to your moving van –- it’s enough to drive any person to the brink of insanity. But for those of us with anxiety, it can be a seemingly impossible task.