John Shinavier - MA, RYT, LC

The Lessons of Anxiety
5-28-2012
For those of you out of work, or barely making ends meet on to what you bring home, you might find yourself filled with anxiety. A client recently reported his anxiety over losing a job that he had only gotten two months prior. During his two months on the job, he had been happy and full of promise. The company which hired him had to let him go because of financial reasons. Since he was the last hired he was the first to be let go. He was angry and took the move as an excuse to go out drinking every night, complain to his friends, and act badly. I reframed his situation as a chance to react in a different, more productive way.
One of the many lessons that I have learned in my life when I am rejected is to not react for 48 hours in a way that could make my situation worse. In doing this I sometimes discover positive things (sometimes related to the rejection) and sometimes not, that I would not have learned about myself had the incident not happened, in this case a loss of employment.
In some twisted way stress is good for you. It can make you bigger and not something that you necessarily have to run from. The universe is asking for you to stretch your capacity for change more than you’re used to, so you can “hold” or contain even more. Sometimes this “more”, is connected to feelings of discomfort, and if you know yourself well enough, it can be an opportunity to grow. It can make you stronger to reassess and clarify your goals, test your willpower and show the world and yourself what you’re made of. Learning to feel and stay connected under stress is a sign of maturity. We envy those that appear to have this, and how we take in our world without merely reacting to it, goes a long way in achieving that same strength in ourselves.
John Shinavier, MA, RYT, Life Coach