powerfulthoughts
Well-known member
Focus means "directed attention."
Social Anxiety is a misdirected attention.
When you are obsessing about how others are perceiving you, or judging you, or how shameful and embarrased you feel, you are focusing on every thing that will make you miserable.
Those that are successful in various things in life, direct and focus on only the things that are productive and useful.
Depression and anxiety are fed by the attention you give them.
Hypocondriacs cannot break their focus off the possible health crisis' that may hit them at any given time. Depressed people feed their misery by intently focusing on all the things that make them as they are.
A lot of the time, people are not even aware that they are focusing so strongly on what is making them anxious or depressed. I know I didn't. When my anxiety was at its worst, I simply let my focus swing whichever way it wanted to go at the time, which brought me lots of terror.
I realized, though, that you have a choice. You can control your focus; and choose what to direct your attention on.
For example, someone at work decided to make a snide remark about me, and I felt my focus on it becoming obssesive, which would have ate at me until it affected me more than it should have. But, with my will power, I decided to stop it and let it go. My focus was getting away from, which it has done all my life.
It's the same thing when you are conversing with others. You can either fail to control your focus, OR, determine to force your focus on what the other person is saying, and IGNORE what they might possibly think about you.
I heard a saying once that said something like, "Those who are successful in life ignore all failures and only focus on successes." That is what you must do to overcome social anxiety -- exactly that.
In fact, every thing in life is determined by how hard you want to focus on any given thing. "Giving up" means you lose your focus and become lazy, letting your focus become whatever your mind wants it to be in its default mode, as opposed to what you WANT to focus on.
All anxieties and depression can be simply "background noise" if we choose, with a certain amount of will power, to make that happen. In a book I read, it said, "happiness is a choice." I didn't understand it at first, but it makes sense now.
If you don't focus on cleaning your house, it becomes filthy and embarassing. If you don't focus on school work, you fail. Realizing that you have a choice is the most important thing to realize, and second most important is not being lazy. Choosing to focus like a laser beam on exactly what you want in life.
And becoming righteously indigant about what you want. Anxiety is caring too much and depression is caring too little. Meet yourself in the middle and focus on your goals and never look away. Never become complacent, or you will be tossed back and forth by the waves of your mind.
Social Anxiety is a misdirected attention.
When you are obsessing about how others are perceiving you, or judging you, or how shameful and embarrased you feel, you are focusing on every thing that will make you miserable.
Those that are successful in various things in life, direct and focus on only the things that are productive and useful.
Depression and anxiety are fed by the attention you give them.
Hypocondriacs cannot break their focus off the possible health crisis' that may hit them at any given time. Depressed people feed their misery by intently focusing on all the things that make them as they are.
A lot of the time, people are not even aware that they are focusing so strongly on what is making them anxious or depressed. I know I didn't. When my anxiety was at its worst, I simply let my focus swing whichever way it wanted to go at the time, which brought me lots of terror.
I realized, though, that you have a choice. You can control your focus; and choose what to direct your attention on.
For example, someone at work decided to make a snide remark about me, and I felt my focus on it becoming obssesive, which would have ate at me until it affected me more than it should have. But, with my will power, I decided to stop it and let it go. My focus was getting away from, which it has done all my life.
It's the same thing when you are conversing with others. You can either fail to control your focus, OR, determine to force your focus on what the other person is saying, and IGNORE what they might possibly think about you.
I heard a saying once that said something like, "Those who are successful in life ignore all failures and only focus on successes." That is what you must do to overcome social anxiety -- exactly that.
In fact, every thing in life is determined by how hard you want to focus on any given thing. "Giving up" means you lose your focus and become lazy, letting your focus become whatever your mind wants it to be in its default mode, as opposed to what you WANT to focus on.
All anxieties and depression can be simply "background noise" if we choose, with a certain amount of will power, to make that happen. In a book I read, it said, "happiness is a choice." I didn't understand it at first, but it makes sense now.
If you don't focus on cleaning your house, it becomes filthy and embarassing. If you don't focus on school work, you fail. Realizing that you have a choice is the most important thing to realize, and second most important is not being lazy. Choosing to focus like a laser beam on exactly what you want in life.
And becoming righteously indigant about what you want. Anxiety is caring too much and depression is caring too little. Meet yourself in the middle and focus on your goals and never look away. Never become complacent, or you will be tossed back and forth by the waves of your mind.
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