{"id":2988,"date":"2013-12-02T12:00:22","date_gmt":"2013-12-02T17:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lettinggo\/?p=2988"},"modified":"2013-12-03T12:25:23","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T17:25:23","slug":"how-anxiety-imprisons-you-in-a-world-of-empty-promises-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/2013\/12\/how-anxiety-imprisons-you-in-a-world-of-empty-promises-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"How Anxiety Imprisons You in a World of Empty Promises (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

No anxious state exists apart from the illusion that the security, happiness, and wholeness you long for exists somewhere outside of you — “in a time to come.” Then why do we go on embracing anxious thoughts and feelings that do nothing but steal from us our love of life? The surprising answer to this question is the same as opening the door to a life free of anxious thoughts and feelings.<\/p>\n

Whenever our mind imagines a pleasure — going somewhere exciting, envisioning a new relationship, or picturing ourselves more successful than we’ve been — something else comes to life within us at the same time; right alongside our newly imagined desire is born a feeling of anxiety. We’ve all sensed the presence of this disquieting state, even though we’re rarely conscious of it. At its outset, this fledgling anxiety remains largely unnoticed, and for good reason: Our mind’s eye, our attention, is completely centered on the pleasure we imagine will soon be ours.<\/p>\n

Regardless of whatever we imagine — be this some new happiness or sense of wholeness — it isn’t real. If it were, we wouldn’t have to try and dream it into existence! A closer examination of what happens to us when we place our hopes in “a time to come” reveals how we hurt ourselves without knowing it\u2026 [to be continued]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No anxious state exists apart from the illusion that the security, happiness, and wholeness you long for exists somewhere outside of you — “in a time to come.” Then why do we go on embracing anxious thoughts and feelings that do nothing but steal from us our love of life? The surprising answer to this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,514],"tags":[525,159,37,266,70,133,83],"class_list":["post-2988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anxiety-worry","category-wholeness-happiness","tag-anxious-thoughts","tag-courage","tag-fear","tag-fulfillment","tag-happiness","tag-pressure","tag-rushing"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Anxiety Imprisons You in a World of Empty Promises (Part 1) - Letting Go with Guy Finley<\/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\/lettinggo\/2013\/12\/how-anxiety-imprisons-you-in-a-world-of-empty-promises-part-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Anxiety Imprisons You in a World of Empty Promises (Part 1) - Letting Go with Guy Finley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"No anxious state exists apart from the illusion that the security, happiness, and wholeness you long for exists somewhere outside of you — “in a time to come.” Then why do we go on embracing anxious thoughts and feelings that do nothing but steal from us our love of life? 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His ideas cut straight to the heart of our most important personal and social issues - relationships, success, addiction, stress, peace, happiness, freedom - and lead the way to a higher life. Finley is the Founder and Director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit Center for Spiritual Discovery. He is the acclaimed author of \"The Secret of Letting Go\" and more than 45 other books and audio programs that have sold over two million copies in 26 languages worldwide. His work is widely endorsed by doctors, business professionals, celebrities, and religious leaders of all denominations. Through Life of Learning Foundation, Guy has presented over 5,000 unique self-realization seminars to thousands of grateful students throughout North America and Europe over the past 20 years and has been a guest on over 700 television and radio shows, including national appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and NPR. 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