Not Just Fear

But Also Anxiety

Photo by Kristin Snippe on Unsplash

I played pickleball again last Tuesday. It’s fun and good exercise, and I’m getting a little better at it. My daughter and I play gently, practice safety rules, and don’t overdo it. Truthfully, my participation in any sport is impressive!

However, before we play, fear runs rampant. Will I hurt myself or look dumb? Am I too old, or will other players tire of my misplays? I have to push myself to go each time. Yet the fear disappears completely once I’m there and playing.

I recently read this quote on the NAMI website. HMMM!!

While anxiety and fear feel similar, anxiety is a reaction to our emotions versus danger in the environment. Anxiety is a stop-reaction to the impulses that fear and other core emotions create inside the body. Fear mobilizes energy for movement, and anxiety pushes it back down.

I also found this explanation in a recent quote from The Bright Life article, What is Fear? which got me thinking.

Perhaps fear is a low-lying rumble that lives below my thinking mind and at the base of it is my concern that I won’t be able to handle the thing happening to me, it will be too much.

Those two quotes clearly explain my experience. Anxiety has been prevalent for the past three years as I learned to live independently and take on new challenges - it keeps me from doing things because I’m afraid I won’t be able to do something right and won’t be able to fix the mistakes.

I’d been following Susan Jeffers, the American psychologist and author of self-help literature, words of advice.

The only way to eliminate the fear of doing something is to go out and do it.

But that doesn’t fix the anxiety that stops me from doing it in the first place.

If you look online, there are many suggestions for managing fear and anxiety - such as:

How To Deal with Fear and Anxiety - offers tips to work with fear and anxiety - like avoiding avoidance and promoting positivity.

10 Ways to Manage Anxious Feelings - Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness, or a rapid heartbeat. At the root of anxiety is fear. And it’s a kind of fear that isn’t helpful but sometimes debilitating.

I’m thinking along other lines and plan to explore beliefs and a mindset that underlies my fear and anxiety. Stay tuned!

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This little guy made me smile - but don’t tell my cats.