Thursday, September 8, 2011

Snapping out of it!


Even as I love the autumn season, it is full of anxiety for me. I have a tendency to think of what the fall and winter may 'look like' for our family- in dealing with cancer.  Surgery. Chemotherapy. Then what???? A great amount of anxiety is attached to each moment I think about it.


I also start to mourn the ending of summer-the last two weeks of September when I feel the crispness in the air at that time, which brings less sunlight and longer nights.....my mind will involuntarily wander off as I wonder..... "will have another summer together?"

Get it together Sherry! Snap out of it!

Take it one minute at a time.
One cognitive adjustment that helps me relieve anxiety is reminding myself that I don’t have to think about 2:45 pm when it's only 10 am. All I have to concern myself about is the very second before me. If I am successful at breaking my time down that way, I usually discover that everything is fine for the moment. 

Pay attention to my breathing.
Another easy exercise I try to ground myself in the moment to manage anxiety is to concentrate on my breath–and move it ever so gradually from my chest to my diaphragm–because the extra oxygen sends a message to my prefrontal cortex that every thing is just fine even though the fear center of the brain (the amygdala) doesn’t think so at all.

Above all
I rest in this: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6).  So I pray and petition God for a miracle- every day!


~ Blessings,
Sherry

1 comment:

  1. As I take the time, staying up late again, because of talking to my neice. One of my step sisters, she has been diagnosed with colon cancer. This was about 6-8 months ago. 4 rounds of chemo later, the cancer most likely has spread.
    I said earlier it is a huge test. Test of faith, test of love, test of closeness in the family and friends. Just really thinking, on how to really overcome the hurdles of what this will bring not only to ones family, but to another's family. I really do feel that god is in control, but I am having difficulty finding out that Terence's health is scary, and so is my step sister, Connie. All we can do is support, pray, and love each other. Something that god does want us to do. Yep, some tears have came out quite a bit today, but I am going to start facing tomorrow, looking that things will be put under control by god himself, and this is his plan.

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