{"id":7124,"date":"2015-04-30T06:00:03","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T10:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=7124"},"modified":"2015-04-18T08:18:22","modified_gmt":"2015-04-18T12:18:22","slug":"taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html","title":{"rendered":"Taking Charge of Anxious Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Letting<\/a>About 29% of Americans will experience an anxiety disorder in their lifetimes. Anxiety is\u00a0that uneasy feeling, apprehension, feeling of danger, doom or misfortune. It can be debilitating or mild. Anxiety can spawn fear, worry, and stress.<\/p>\n

Negative self-talk is behind many anxious feelings. Your thoughts impact your feelings. Your feelings affect your view of the world, and an anxious, negative\u00a0view\u00a0affects your thoughts. This vicious cycle keeps anxiety going.<\/p>\n

In order to stop anxiety, \u00a0take charge of\u00a0those anxious thoughts.The work is to replace negative self-talk with positive talk. For example,\u00a0most anxious people think, \u201cWhat if\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201dChange the \u201cWhat if\u2026\u201d to \u201cSo what,\u201d and you\u2019ll reduce anxiety.<\/p>\n

When anxious thoughts come into your mind, identify them, and tolerate the momentary feeling.\u00a0Then correct the thought with something more reasonable like, \u201cYes, I am afraid but God is with me, and will get me through this. I can take it.\u201d As you correct the thought to something more reasonable and tolerate the feeling, anxiety will most likely decrease.<\/p>\n

The key here is to tolerate the anxiety and push through it, not try to avoid or run from it.<\/p>\n

So when you feel\u00a0anxious, \u00a0look at your thoughts,- you can change your thinking. Whether your fear is real or imagined, the way you talk to yourself will determine if you work through it or become paralyzed by it. For example,”Yes, I am anxious, this feels bad…” coupled with “But I can take it and work though it” is the way to approach anxiety. Acknowledge that anxiety is present, that it\u00a0doesn’t feel good but that you can move through it by taking charge of your\u00a0thoughts, e.g., “This won’t destroy me, God is with me, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, He will walk me through this, etc.”<\/p>\n

The confidence that God will walk you through even the most difficult circumstances is the basis for keeping anxious thoughts at bay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more help with anxious thoughts, get a copy of Letting Go of Worry<\/a> by Dr. Linda Mintle<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About 29% of Americans will experience an anxiety disorder in their lifetimes. Anxiety is\u00a0that uneasy feeling, apprehension, feeling of danger, doom or misfortune. It can be debilitating or mild. Anxiety can spawn fear, worry, and stress. Negative self-talk is behind many anxious feelings. Your thoughts impact your feelings. Your feelings affect your view of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[916],"tags":[135,1695,137,3268],"class_list":["post-7124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god-relationship","tag-anxiety","tag-anxious-thoughts","tag-fear","tag-reducing-anxiety"],"yoast_head":"\nTaking Charge of Anxious Thoughts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking Charge of Anxious Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"About 29% of Americans will experience an anxiety disorder in their lifetimes. Anxiety is\u00a0that uneasy feeling, apprehension, feeling of danger, doom or misfortune. It can be debilitating or mild. Anxiety can spawn fear, worry, and stress. Negative self-talk is behind many anxious feelings. Your thoughts impact your feelings. Your feelings affect your view of the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-30T10:00:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-04-18T12:18:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/03\/Letting-Go-of-Worry.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Taking Charge of Anxious Thoughts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Taking Charge of Anxious Thoughts","og_description":"About 29% of Americans will experience an anxiety disorder in their lifetimes. Anxiety is\u00a0that uneasy feeling, apprehension, feeling of danger, doom or misfortune. It can be debilitating or mild. Anxiety can spawn fear, worry, and stress. Negative self-talk is behind many anxious feelings. Your thoughts impact your feelings. Your feelings affect your view of the…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2015-04-30T10:00:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-04-18T12:18:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/03\/Letting-Go-of-Worry.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html","name":"Taking Charge of Anxious Thoughts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/03\/Letting-Go-of-Worry.jpg","datePublished":"2015-04-30T10:00:03+00:00","dateModified":"2015-04-18T12:18:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/03\/Letting-Go-of-Worry.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/03\/Letting-Go-of-Worry.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/04\/taking-charge-of-anxious-thoughts.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Taking Charge of Anxious Thoughts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7124"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7126,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7124\/revisions\/7126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}