[cyborg_hearted]

I didn´t know where to place this, thought maybe here, cause it has to do with anxiety.
I am so very bashful and afraid of others that I badly mess up my opportunities.. I am not able to use my capabilities appropriatly.. I have a job in a discount store that I do not like very much, sometimes I hate it, this is not me, this job doesn´t allow me to be as I am, but it seems I have no choice because I have to survive somehow. before that job I have made education in creative direction, but there´s no use of it, because I cannot rely on my creative abilities, they slip out of my hands when circumstances become serious.
a few days ago, at work, a frequent customer came to me and said, he´s a screenwriter and he´s interessted in me to do a bit part in that upcoming movie. it´s all reputable and I could earn some extra salary. It complimented me somehow and I said to him I´m gonna think about it...
but I´m quite sure I´m not gonna jump on this opportunity, cause I´m sure I would be so very anxiuos and by that so very much unable to do anything useful .I would become shaking and standing beside as I always do when people focus on me.
It´s so very exhausting to know there are so much oppoptunities and I know I have my talents, but cannot use them, I´m caught inside myself and I hide these talents I am given just because of anxiety..
How can I handle this anxiety? I everyday try to expose myself to situations I am afraid of cause I don´t want fear to rule my life, but it still does...
it´s so tiring

[kaliope]

there are a couple things that i use to deal with my anxiety.
a way to stop panic attacks is to relax. it is physically impossible to panic and relax at the same time. you dont even have to really relax. just fool your brain into thinking you are relaxing. imagine as if you just did a meditation or had a massage and all your muscles have turned into limp noodles. just let them all go. this will stop the panic attack. you may have to do it a couple times over your first tries, but when i started doing this it ended the attacks and soon i never had a panic attack again,

i have this thing called an anxiety meter that i visualize in my head. it goes from 0 to 10, 10 being the worst anxiety ever. so when i am anxious, i see where the needle registers on the meter. then i do breathing exercises until i get it down to a four. which is manageable for me. sometimes i see a knob on the meter and i will manually turn down the meter to four so i can calm down faster. practicing this enough, all i have to do now when i am anxious is say dial down, and i can calm myself.

[cyborg_hearted]

thanks for sharing this. I will try something like this. but I think one difficulty could be to find that space to relax and concentrate because I mainly panic when people focus and interact with me. so that I am busy with interacting too
I try to figure out how to actualize, to manage, how to include that relaxing habit, and shurely there will be soon a next chance for practising