Book Series 42: How Your Anxiety Is An Unexpressed Feeling Of Vulnerability

How many times have you felt anxious when you were really feeling vulnerable instead?

Anxiety acts as a cover, much like an umbrella. This umbrella is covering your experience of the eight unpleasant feelings. Once you are aware of and in touch with the real feelings, the anxiety diminishes greatly. Then it is a matter of riding the waves of unpleasant feelings and making your way through them.

Yet people say they are anxious for a variety of reasons, often claiming they are worried about a specific unwished-for outcome. What I’ve come to understand, however, is that their worries are really tied to an unwanted emotional outcome; at a deeper level what they are really concerned about is facing the unwanted unpleasant feelings that might result from an undesired outcome. They are anxious because they are avoiding what they don’t want to feel.

Vulnerability is the feeling people most often cover up when they say they are anxious. Vulnerability, as you remember, involves the awareness that you could get hurt. Recall too, the sense that you’ve been exposed and feeling embarrassed are frequently linked with vulnerability.

How many times have you felt anxious when you were really feeling vulnerable instead?

Think of situations where you felt anxious, but replace the word anxious with vulnerable. How does that change your experience? When you consciously reframe anxiety as vulnerability – that is, as an openness and willingness to learn and/or to feel hurt – these situations often become opportunities to grow, to develop confidence and resilience, rather than just to cause pain.

If they work out successfully, you grow from these experiences; if they don’t, but you successfully face the disappointment or frustration, you grow from those experiences, too. Either way, your choice to be vulnerable helps you develop emotional strength.

Next week, be on the lookout for my next blog post, as we will be going over the an important step in facing your anxieties: the Rosenberg Anxiety Reset™.

This weeks questions:

Identify times when you feel anxious, and see what happens when you replace anxiety when you are feeling vulnerable.

I’d love for you to respond on my facebook group if you feel comfortable!!

Join my group on Facebook LOVE MY LIFE and let me know.  Feel free to share my series with your friends or colleagues as well!

To A Life You Love,

Dr. Joan Rosenberg