How do you do it?

[scrumking]

Hey everyone,

Having a rough go of things lately after being triggered by a reaccuring dream,

My question is how do you get over or at least cope with the fear that you may suddenly stop breathing or that your heart will suddenly stop and you will die (two of my absolute biggest fears)

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[skippy66]

Easy. Imagine yourself on your deathbed as an old person looking back at your life. Imagine looking back and thinking 'I wasted that life worrying about when I was going to drop dead or stop breathing'. Imagine all the things you didn't do with your life. Then imagine how you would feel knowing that life is not a dress rehearsal, THAT WAS IT, you wasted it worrying. There are no second chances. You can't go through it all again but next time it will be ok because you'll choose to stop worrying and go out and live your life.

You need to choose RIGHT NOW. Are you going to waste your life worrying or just get out there and enjoy what you have in spite of everything?

Simple as that.

[scrumking]

The small victories I am proud of is I don't let this anxiety stop me from doing anything I still go about life as normal no matter how uncomfortable the anxiety makes me I do it. Hell I even went to Vegas earlier this year and the thought of flying makes me dry heave.

It's just such an uncomfortable feeling when I worry about my heart and/or breathing and it's made worse because I have no control over it

[cpe1978]

I would go a little bit further, although along the same lines as Skippy.

You need to develop an appreciation for the things that you cannot control, accept that sometimes things happen and learn a tolerence for uncertainty. That is what is helping me get to the point where I can apply Skippy's philosophy.

[scrumking]

You both are absolutely right and until I was stricken with anxiety that's exactly how I lived my life, finding a way back to that has been the challenging part.

The fact that I am only 31 should tell me that chances are I have a long time ahead of me it's beating these damn fears that I might not haberdasher much time left is what I continue to work on