How to Tell the Difference Between Anxiety and Intuition
You’re Worried That Something Really Bad Might Happen Soon...
You find yourself mentally running through all types of worst-case scenarios. You are desperately trying to prepare as best as you can, so that you aren’t caught off-guard when the sh*t hits the fan.
“What if it happens again?”
“What will I do?”
“Will I see the signs in time?”
Often, people believe this inner voice without questioning where it’s coming from.
But is This Anxiety, or Intuition Guiding You?
I mean, they have some similarities— They both look into the future. They both are intended to guide you in the right direction and away from harm.
How can you know for sure?
The big difference is found in how they make you feel.
Anxiety Can Be Described As:
Stress and fear-based — You feel scared, panicked, and unprepared. Your body is having a physiological stress reaction, that gets egged-on by the thoughts you have. You react with avoidance, denial, aggression or defensiveness.
Over-complicates situations — Anxiety likes to create unnecessary or unfounded details that aren’t true or based on things that haven’t happened yet. It further increases the feeling of stress, fear, and anxiety.
Over-emphasizes the little things — It makes mountains out of mole-hills. One small thing is an absolute sign of impending, and seemingly unavoidable, doom.
Judgmental towards you and others — “If they don’t get this right, everything will fall apart! I knew they would screw this up; I’m such an idiot for trusting them!” It will find someone to blame, shame, and can be down-right mean.
Intuition Can Be Described As:
Calm — It’s not scary. It may not be a comfortable or easy situation, but even if the worst happens, there is a sense of trust that things will be okay either way. There is this unexplainable sense of certainty and knowing that: “Whatever happens, I can handle it. I got this!”
Simple and matter-of- fact — You can see the situation clearly, and you work with what you know at the time. There isn’t this spinning of: “Well what if this happens?… Or worse, what if that happens??” Instead, there is a sense of knowing what might come, and you can respond accordingly, rather than react.
Focused on the “big” things — Intuition steps-in when it needs to, like when you have a feeling not to trust someone, or having a sense that something is off with your partner.
Compassionate towards you and others — Intuition has a way of trusting that things work out as they need to, so there isn’t really a need for blame. The Universe works in mysterious ways, and life is happening for you, not to you. You and others are doing the best you can with where you are right now, and there is no shame in that. There is this greater sense of empathy and understanding.
Does it Matter Which One is Guiding You?
YES!
Anxiety is never true — It’s a projection into the future, and usually a worst-case scenario. It’s a vicious cycle of telling yourself a scary story, your body responding to those thoughts with a stress/fear response, which makes you think of more scary things, and so on and so forth.
You may think that you’re being logical, but under stress, you can’t be logical. You’re using the wrong part of your brain. There is a balance between acknowledging and responding to “good stress” with measured action, versus spinning your wheels and making yourself more scared and less functional.
Allow how you feel to guide you. If it makes you feel a little better to make a plan — do so, but don’t try too hard. If in the process of making the plan, you feel more terrified and stressed — stop and take a nap. Then try again later if you feel the need to.
There is only so much preparation we can do. After all, we don’t really know for sure what will happen. Take 2020 as an example — A plethora of totally unexpected events came up that no one could have prepared for. Rather than trying to think your way out of problems, enhance your sense of intuition to trust that you can handle whatever comes your way.
The Saying May Be: “I Think, Therefore, I Am”…. But “You Am Not What You Think!”
Intuition isn’t really thinking — It’s more of a knowing. Unexplainable, yet simple. It is tapping into this greater sense of consciousness that is beyond anything your brain can create on it’s own.
Intuition doesn’t sweat the small stuff, and doesn’t always have an opinion on everything. Anxiety, however, likes to chime-in on every little thing. If your brain is chatty and scared — it’s anxiety.
Intuition doesn’t speak often, but when it does, you hear it clearly.
Anxiety won’t lead you to a happy, healthy, full-life. Intuition taps into all aspects of you in order to deliberately create the life you want.
Where Can I Find Help?
If you’re looking for a space to practice identifying and compartmentalizing anxiety, while better attuning to your intuition, therapy is a good place to start. You can start researching right now by clicking around my website.
Maybe you aren’t fully ready for therapy yet — That’s okay too! That’s why I’ve written a book that is a fraction of the price of one therapy session! It’s called: The Root of Relationships: How to Know Yourself, Understand Others, and Create the Relationships You Want. I’ve already spent the money and time to get advanced education and training in Couples Therapy, Psychology, Sociology, and Psychotherapy, packed some of the best introductory stuff into one place, and made it easy to understand and digest. Sign up with your email on my “Book Publications” tab, and download the accompanying free workbook!
If you think you’re beyond a book and ready to dive into therapy, CONTACT ME for a free 15 minute consultation, where we can talk about what pursuing therapy together might look like.
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Video - How to Tell The Difference Between Anxiety and Intuition
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