I’m often asked if I have “bad days,” when anxiety or panic attacks come back to haunt me. I guess the simple answer is “no,” but that doesn’t mean I don’t have stressful days or rough times.

Like anyone else, I deal with life’s ups and downs, frustrations and even anxiety. But this is NOT the same thing as an anxiety disorder. I always point this out because I’m very aware that, once someone has dealt with an anxiety disorder, it is very easy to assume it is “coming back” anytime you have a rough or stressful day (or even week).

 Life is a constant eb and flow; we go up, and then we go down. We take a few steps forward, and then a few few steps backward. And this is nothing to really be concerned with, or try to fight, because, as every adult knows, it’s unavoidable. Life is ups and downs.

Call your bad days what they are: just bad days–not a recurring anxiety “disorder.” In my job I talk to a lot of people about these issues, and one things I know for certain is that every single person on this planet has stressful, bad, and yes, even anxious days. I do , you do, your neighbors do.

But I don’t think any of us could stand to live in a world where things were only good. Afterall, without the bad days, how would know what a good day was? The contrast gives us clarity. And sometimes, we certainly get plenty of it!

Take Care,
Jon
 www.easycalm.com

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I appreciate all the great comments I receive about The EasyCalm Series, and I wanted to give you all a chance to share your thoughts and comments on the series on this page.

Just write your testimonial, comments or review of EasyCalm in the comments box below. And by all means, write whatever you like. You can share as much or as little of your personal info as you like (initials are fine, for example), though I would appreciate it if you include where you are from.

Thanks again to every one who has written in–it really does make my day when I read some of these great comments.

Be well,
Jon

Jon Mercer, MA
www.easycalm.com

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I received an email today that referred to anxiety attacks as “a series of very unfortunate head games.” I believe that’s about as good a description of of anxiety attacks and their symptoms as I’ve ever heard, because, in the end, they are in fact “all in your head.”

But this doesn’t mean that anxiety doesn’t produce very real (an even painful) effects in your life, including physical symptoms that often mimic other health problems. This is something I’m personally acquainted with: when my anxiety attacks were at their worst, I saw many doctors and had countless tests run only to discover that I was physically healthy as a horse.

In my case, I was suffering with breathing problems, which very closely mimicked the symptoms of asthma. In fact, I was sure I had asthma, and was beginning to question the common sense of my doctors as, time and time again, the tests showed not even the slightest hint of asthma, or any other condition. But if the doctors were right, then why was I having trouble breathing?

Today I understand full well why I was having these symptoms, and how anxiety attacks brought on by chronic stress and mental fatigue can produce very real physical symptoms in the body. Anxiety may be a “state of mind,” but it doesn’t just affect the mind. It is a whole body and mind problem.

This is something I did not realize for many years, but seems fairly obvious to me today. Understanding this mind/body connection made be able to deal with my anxiety attacks symptoms in a much more effective manner, eventually reducing the problem to nothing more than an occasional nuscence, NOT an every day situation.

The techniques I used to overcome this problem are now available to anyone in the EasyCalm Anxiety Prevention Series and they’re not at all complicated. It’s funny; when I stopped “trying so hard” to defeat my anxiety symptoms, and learned the simple but effective tools to deal with them, the problem cleared up pretty quickly.

Struggling or fighting against anxiety attacks only makes them worse (and I should know–I was thick enough to continue trying this for quite a few years!). That’s why today,  I never recommend over-focusing on anxiety attacks and symptoms. You DO have to deal with them, but not by immersing yourself in the problem.

The simple, straight-forward approach produces the best results, and thankfully, is also the easiest way to deal with anxiety. No struggling against it, and no fighting the symptoms.

Take Care,
Jon

Jon Mercer, MA
Personal Development Coach
www.easycalm.com

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Change happens gradually for most people. This is certainly the case with me, and most of the people I coach. For example, a few days ago I found myself clinging to the side of a brick wall, more than 30′ in the air. It’s called ”urban rock climbing,” but personally, I call it a real breakthrough.

Not many years ago, the idea of climbing a vertical wall so high off the ground like some kind of spiderman “wannabe” would have been impossible for me. My former anxiety and panic attacks would have prevented it, plain and simple. And yet, there I was, ringing a bell with my right hand, while clinging to a small crack in the mortar with my left–waaaay up off the ground, and loving every minute of it!

 This story is not meant to impress you. It is meant to impress upon you that you can change, just as I have, one step at a time.

You see, I didn’t go from A to Z in one fell swoop, and I certainly didn’t start out by climbing the side of buildings. No, I began tackling much smaller challenges–tiny in fact. But every little victory paved the way for a (slightly) bigger victory, and so on, and so on. In other words, it was a slow and methodical process. And this is how real and lasting change happens: one little victory at a time.

That’s why the EasyCalm Anxiety Program uses the steady, gradual approach. When it comes to anxiety and panic attacks, quick fixes don’t last, but slow and steady wins the race every time.

A good example of this is the “Speed Merchant” strategy outlined in the EasyCalm Videos. You can find out more about the “Speed Merchant” in this video. It is a very gradual approach that requires a bit of patience, but has a fantastic success rate. And in the end, isn’t that what matters?

Be well,

Jon

Jon Mercer
Personal Development Coach
http://www.easycalm.com/
http://www.attractanything.com/
http://www.ultraconfidence.com/
Managing Director, Youniverse LLC

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