FACING THE FEAR AND ANXIETY OF THE UNKNOWN - Article

By Stan Popovich
All most everybody worries about what will happen in the future. The prospect of not knowing if something good or bad will happen to you in the near future can produce a lot of fear and anxiety. As a result, here is a list of techniques and suggestions on how to manage this fear of dealing with the unknown.

The first step is to learn to take it one day at a time. Instead of worrying about how you will get through the rest of the week or coming month, try to focus on today. Each day can provide us with different opportunities to learn new things and that includes learning how to deal with your problems. When the time comes, hopefully you will have learned the skills to deal with your situation.

Another thing to remember is that no one can predict the future with 100 Percent certainty. Even if the thing that you feared does happen there are circumstances and factors that you canÕt predict which can be used to your advantage. For instance, letÕs say at your place of work that you miss the deadline for a project you have been working on for the last few months. Everything you feared is coming true. Suddenly, your boss comes to your office and tells you that the deadline is extended and that he forgot to tell you the day before. This unknown factor changes everything. Remember: we may be ninety-nine percent correct in predicting the future, but all it takes is for that one percent to make a world of difference.

Sometimes what we fear may happen can be over exaggerated. A lot of times, our worrying can make the problem even worse. For those of you who believe in God, prayer can be very effective. In the end, we have to leave it in the hands of God. If God wants something to happen to us, it will happen regardless. All the worrying in the world will not change anything. All you can do is to do your best each day, hope for the best, and when something does happen, take it in stride by using the help of God. God will help us through our problems if we ask him.

As a Layman, I realize it is not easy to deal with the fear of the unknown, however sometimes the fear can be worse than the situation. If you have trouble managing your anxiety of the future, then talking to a counselor or clergyman can be of great help. There are ways to help manage your fear and all it takes is some effort to find those answers.

Stan Popovich is the author of "A Layman's Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods" - an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties.

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