Live an Anxiety-Free Life: Write Your Story
Are you ready to live an anxiety-free life? You can actively take charge of this by writing your story of life without anxiety. Now is the perfect time to begin. At the time I’m writing this, we’re about to enter a brand new year. However, every single day is a new day with the promise of new beginnings, and you can write your story of a life without anxiety starting now, whenever “now” may be. Ready? Read on for more about how to use this new beginning to write your story and live an anxiety-free life.
Write Your Story, Live Anxiety-Free: Active Processes
Whether it’s a new year or a new day or a new moment in a day, new beginnings are exciting and full of promise. To begin anew is to be active rather than passive. Thinking in terms of writing your story of living anxiety-free is a way to take action. Rather than wishing your life were free from anxiety (a wish, after all, is something in your thoughts instead of in behaviors), writing this life is a behavior that lets you create what you want (Picture Yourself Free from Anxiety). No longer are you stuck in thinking of what you don’t want.
Writing your story of a life without anxiety is an active process. In doing so, you intentionally decide what you want and how you’re going to get there. Not only is it active, it’s empowering, for you are the author, the creator of your ideal life.
Elements of Your Anxiety-Free Life Story
Thinking in terms of a story will allow you to create a rich, fulfilling, and all-encompassing anxiety-free life. Consider a few basic story elements as you write your own life story.
- Character: You are the main character in your story. Be specific when creating yourself. Who are you at your core? What do you value? What do you do? What will you be like when anxiety is gone from your life? Also, consider other characters and how you will interact with them.
- Settings: Where will you go when you’re no longer a prisoner of anxiety?
- Plot: This is your action. What do you envision taking place in your anxiety-free life? Making that happen, whether in a story or in life, is never random or passive (How to Turn Anxiety into Action). What are you going to do, step by step, to live an anxiety-free life?
How Writing Your Story Creates an Anxiety-Free Life
- New chapters: Stories have chapters, each one building on others yet also offering new beginnings of things yet to come. You can think of the moments of your life as new beginnings. If your old antagonist, anxiety, inserts itself into your story, make a fresh start with some new actions.
- Flexibility: Writing your story is an ongoing process. Because you don’t live in a vacuum, unforeseen circumstances happen. You can write those into your story as new beginnings and continue to shape your story of an anxiety-free life around them.
- Enjoyment: Like life, stories are meant to be enjoyed. To be sure, there are plot twists and antagonists and traps like anxiety. These don’t have to dominate your own life story, however. What pleasant, fun things do you want in your life? Write them in. Don’t forget action steps to achieve them.
In the below video, I discuss this further and offer a method for writing your story of living an anxiety-free life. Tune in as part of your new beginning.
Let's connect. I blog here. Find me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest. My self-help book and mental health novels, including one about severe anxiety, are here.
APA Reference
Peterson, T.
(2016, December 29). Live an Anxiety-Free Life: Write Your Story, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, November 2 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/anxiety-schmanxiety/2016/12/live-an-anxiety-free-life-write-your-story
Author: Tanya J. Peterson, MS, NCC, DAIS
If I wrote a story it would be 'The Diary of Boring Man'.
Actitivities do help reduce anxiety and depression. I think writing does help. So do other activities such as puzzles, coloring, painting, drawing, and so forth.
Everyone is different. For me I must jog or hike. But you cannot jog or hike all day after work hours, so writing probably would help. Anxiety is with me all day. So I must deal with it or else it deals with me.
Hi John,
It doesn't sound like your title matches you! Unless you're throwing in some humor (and humor is a good thing). :) It seems to me that you're doing many things to deal with anxiety, and activity like this isn't boring at all. I love what you said about dealing with anxiety. If we don't actively deal with it (and, like you said, everyone is different so we each can find things that work for us personally), it will deal with us. Anxiety is stubborn, so it doesn't always disappear and stay away forever (at least not quickly and immediately). But we can get the upper hand by doing things to deal with it. This way, it doesn't win. So keep writing your not-boring story!
I believe to move on I have to write my past very unhappy life, in order to move on. I somethings think that this will not be a good idea, as I don't want to focus on the past. I feel that I must get through the past to move on. I would like to have a relationship that is not toxic, but time is running out as I am 60. I miss quiet dinners, companionship and the closeness of another person. I would like to be loved. I gave 100% to my family and my children and things did not turn out well.
I think of you John and writing, I have tried many times and that has caused me more anxiety. I wish I could find a ghost writer or a psychology major wanting to do a thesis on a dysfunctional family. Best wishes to you John, life is living the best we can.
Thanks Tanya,
Anxiety is a struggle, and I am struggling. Trust has been lost. The future seems like yesterday. Tomorrow is just another day. There is no difference in Monday or Friday.
I have more friends at the Corner Bar than at Church. At least the dude at the Corner Bar will listen. Misery likes company.
Thanks for your articles.
John
Hi John,
Thank you for reading my articles and for commenting. I'm really glad that you do. You're right that anxiety is a struggle. I used to struggle a lot with it. I still experience anxiety, but I'm finally able to separate from it and to enjoy the days. Everything I share in my articles is sincere and things that I've found useful in this process. Right now, you feel how you feel, and it's okay. Who says there has to be a difference between Monday and Friday and anything else? Live in moments, and make good moments in your days -- however you define that. Anxiety is a gigantic pain. It's not who you are. Oh, and don't be so hard on yourself. Whether your friends are at the corner bar or at church isn't important. You're connecting with people. That's what's important. From your comments, I have the impression that you're an intelligent, caring man with a lot to offer. Develop all of the wonderful things about you, and anxiety will slowly shrink. (And I really do appreciate the comments you leave.)
Thanks Tanya,
You made two good points that I need to perfect, or at least improve on.
1. Friends are friends, regardless of where I meet them at. The important part is true friendship and being a true friend myself to others. Communicating lessens anxiety and depression.
2. No day should be different. A happy person is happy. The TGIF crowd can also be a TGIM crowd. If you are happy and living then every day is a good day and should be lived to its fullest as possible.
I will work on those two variables in life. Thanks,
John
Thanks Dottie,
Sounds like you have some of the same issues. Life is what it is. What I am trying to do now is get my personal happiness factor up. Right now it is near zero. Going into the Golden Years isn't so Golden. Keep going and stay as positive as possible.