Getting rid of driving phobias and driving fears starts with nipping them in the bud. And that bud consists of anxiety.
One man’s quest for the New Year is to kill off his old anxiety, and he offers a humorous look at how it tackles it. That man is New York Times writer Bill Hayes, and he notes a very important point: anxiety is not going to make you drop dead (even when it feels like it!).
“Anxiety itself is not going to kill you, any more than a sleepless night does,” Hayes writes. “But it makes life so much less enjoyable.”
So how does he deal? He faces it head-on:
“Ultimately, I have had enough experience with anxiety to sense when it may turn destructive,” Hayes says. “My strategy is to call it out when it surfaces. As it starts to crest into a wave that threatens to turn tidal and take me under, I take a step back on an imagined beach: ‘Hey! You!’ I silently yell. ‘I see you coming.’ I take a deep breath. I stand my ground. The acid-green water begins to still, the swirling winds die down. Something lifts. I dive in soundlessly and swim.”
Read the full piece: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/out-with-the-old-anxiety
