Anxiety Relief Tips & Strategies

How do you feel when you’re with people who are happy, upbeat and positive? Do their attitudes boost your own?

Being around positive people is, in fact, a very effective way to stay positive even when things aren’t going so well. Positive people give off a “feeling good” vibe that others in the group pick up and pass on. It’s all good.

This point came to me through something I read years ago. It stated that my depression and sense of worthlessness were being fed by the negative people around me. These were people I thought cared about me, but like many families, they don’t fully grasp how damaging negative feedback can be. In fact, they don’t even know they’re doing it and probably don’t even mean to.

One day, while visiting them for a typical Sunday meal, it became painfully obvious that my sister was always putting me down. Over the years, I had learned to just take it without really interpreting the meaning behind her words.

My friend at the time helped bring this to light when he asked me why I took it from her. Since she is my older sister, I didn’t question anything she said or did. Until that point.

Thinking back, I realized she had always put me down and what it did to me. I lost all confidence in myself and my self esteem. My common belief back then was that I’d never amount to much because who the heck was I? Nobody.

It was unfortunate that this revelation didn’t occur until I’d lived several decades in a depressed, self-deprecating state. Behind everything I tried was a belief that it would never work out, so I didn’t try very hard. It didn’t seem worth the effort if I was predestined to fail. Of course, that’s not true, for me or anyone else. We do have control of our futures, but we have to know what needs fixing.

Negative feedback is a very common detriment to people’s lives. If we’re always told we’ve done something wrong or were wasting our time for trying new ideas, we come to believe them.

The book that explained this made an important point – surround yourself with positive people, people who will support and encourage you. Only then can you gain back your self-esteem and live a happy life.

Surrounding yourself with negative people will only bring you down. Any spark of enthusiasm is quickly squashed by negative people. These are people who, themselves, are lacking self worth and can see only negativity and doom in their futures. They pass this on to others without intending to do so, as negative parents pass it on to their children.

I was just reading another blog about people being stressed out during family get-togethers, in part because certain members have tense relationships. This is enough to cause anxiety in anyone who is already anxious about getting out and meeting family and other obligations during the holiday season.

It might be difficult to avoid negative family members all the time, but you can seek out new friends who are supportive and drop or spend less time with those who are not. Spend as much time as possible with these new friends and they will, over time, counterbalance your negative acquaintances.

Once you begin to find your way out of feeling worthless, you will become stronger mentally. Negative feedback will bounce off you because you will learn to accept only positive ones.

From the moment I put this practice into action, I noticed a drastic improvement in my sense of self. I came to recognize negative comments immediately and was able to ignore them.

By taking a look at the benefits your friends and family are to you, you can decide whether changes are necessary. In time, you will feel much better about yourself and a surprise bonus is that your anxiety will diminish. Anxiety comes from feeling bad about yourself and feeling helpless. Negative feedback can do that to a person. Regaining control over our lives is the key to a happy, self-confident future.