(ThySistas.com) Anxiety is something many sistas, and Americans, are living with every day. There are many triggers that can send you to an anxiety attack. Sometimes it can be as simple as needed to put yourself into another physical space, but it can get as bad as not being able to breathe and needing to take a trip to the emergency room. Awareness, therapy, medication, and life changes are just a few of the things available to help manage anxiety. Once you an come to terms with having anxiety you can look at ways to combat it. This is a condition I wake up with every day and go to bed with every night.
Sometimes my anxiety manifests physically, but it is always running in the backgrounds of my mind. Some days it is louder than others, and then there are my really good days whereby I am high functioning and very productive. I have found strength in listening to other women survive anxiety every single day which led me to talk about the best method I’ve found to handle my own. I have a few family members that I 
trust that are aware of my condition and they help keep me grounded. If I call them and say anxiety they say the safe word we have and begin the process of helping ground myself safely. I am grateful for those people in my life because they help me stay sane when I’m quite sure I’m losing my mind they remind me that I’m an awesome person and I am worthy of love as I am.
I have found that busy hands help me survive my anxiety. Cleaning has become my best friend. When I feel the anxiety coming mentally first I force myself to get up (if I’m in a place that allows it) and start cleaning. It could start range me straightening the living room to be deep cleaning the house. I’ve cleaned the house of friends and family while working through my anxiety. The movement and allowing myself to set order to something tangible has helped me set order to myself when I feel out of control.
When I’m in a place where I can’t clean I find that I write, draw, color, doodle…something that involves my hands. I took up crocheting to keep with the theme of working with my hands. I find that nothing works as well as cleaning but having alternatives when I can’t get to cleaning has been such a help. Because anxiety is very different for different people I understand this method of dealing will not work for everyone. However, this could be a Godsend for someone who also needs to use their hands constructively to help ground themselves.
Talking to a therapist can also help you identify the root of your anxiety which will determine what activities help you cope and survive the day. More days than not my home looks like I might have OCD because I find myself cleaning what has already been cleaned. However, I am learning to give myself the grace I give others and that’s okay. if you live with anxiety what are some things you have found to help you get through the day?
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/christian.pierre.9809 and also Twitter; http://twitter.com/MrzZeta.