One of the lessons I learnt early on was that I had anxiety. I did not use the word anxiety but I had it. I was 29 when I learned that is what the feeling I had was.
You see many dyslexics experience things but don’t use the right label on them so it can be harder to treat the challenge.
But after my aha moment, I was ready to understand it and work out where my challenges were.
My anxiety was bread from so many things. Things like:
- Plans changed and the picture in my head could not adjust quick enough
- People talking to me when I was focussed on something else
- Seeing the big picture in my head of what I wanted, but getting lost in detail and overwhelm
It seemed like an endless challenge.
It seemed like an endless challenge.
So many triggers that brought it on. But what it brought on was even worse.
You see I suffer from fight & flight. In certain situations that were easy I went in to fight my corner. Whether I was right or wrong and 99 times out of 100 it made the situation worse.
If it was a bigger challenge I would run. From relationships, business deals and other things. This can also be called avoidance
I would pretend I didn’t care about it. If I don’t care I can’t get hurt right?
It was super challenging.
The worst thing is it took me so much self-reflection to see it. I could tell you it was not true in 1000 words but deep down I knew it was.
So what did I do to counteract it?
A lot of stuff.
I want to give you 2 things that helped the most to silent my overthinking Dyslexic brain.
1. Awareness
Until you accept, see and know yourself enough to be able to see what you are doing you can’t change. I found meditation and separating myself from my thinking mind & my body allowed me more external perspective. I practised meditating and seeing myself outside my body, feeling my feelings and separating my conscious from my mind (the tool my consciousness uses).
That separation allowed me a new perspective, I was calmer, less judgemental and less prone to running away.
2. Slowed Down
The second thing was I slowed down. Dyslexic minds are like really really fast visual computers. We are the mac to the average persons PC.
Our minds work so fast and well it can be a disadvantage in some situations. When i got into the anxiety mode. I took a breath and picked a point in the distance to focus on for 4 – 6 seconds to re-centre myself.
This allowed me to take a moment. Let my brain not overheat and make a more logical decision.
In Summary
Whether you are a fighter, a flighter or a bit of both. You can start to change. It takes practice, failure and resilience to break through the patterns you have used all your life. But it is possible.
Good luck. 🙂
