Philosophical Processing Journal 2 ~ Anxiety

Begin by purchasing your PPJ Anxiety on Amazon. Then, in your Journal, you can read about the philosophy of Anxiety. After you read the brief and interesting philosophical section, you can start expressing yourself using any of the 18 Journal prompts. Each one of the Journaling prompts are designed to promote more self-awareness and give you better insight to your mental wellbeing.

Table of Contents

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Coming soon: Click below to read and submit more Journal entries!

Journal 1 Emotions

Journal 3 Guilt

Journal 4 Anger

Journal 5 Shame

Entry 1

Accomplish

Entry 2

Worrying

Entry 3

Impulsivity

Entry 4

Pessimism, Realism, & Optimism

Entry 5

Authenticity

Entry 6

Internal versus External Control

Entry 7

Fear-Based Living

1 ~ Rethinking Independence

I have struggle with living in a fear-based mentality for so many things in my life. 

woman standing next to a horse holding lead

Most recently, I had a predisposed fear about working with my new horse. I didn’t know him other than what I heard from others. He had thrown them off and I was doubting my capabilities as a horse person to be able to handle him. This fear had kept me from being able to connect with him to find his true potential.

But, I did it. I persevered. I triumphed and got on him the first time on the 29th of January. Nothing bad happened and it felt like a weight had lifted off of my shoulders. I was really mad at myself for being so hesitant and being such a “chicken shit.” But I also know that I needed to take time to connect with him.

Two of my childhood friends and really encouraged me with my strengths. This shows me, yet again, that sometimes it is okay to lean on trusting people for support. That letting my guard down and accepting help can be a good thing. Trusting others is something I have found difficult for most of my life. Being independent is great but I miss having someone to lean on when times are tough. 

I think this is part of the reason I am so scared to get into a relationship. Because I feel I have to be independent. Otherwise, I will be viewed as weak. And that is fear talking. I have to tell myself that I am not weak if I find myself a partner. It will not diminish who I am as a person. But, sometimes, I really feel that way. I feel like I will los myself if I “give” myself to another. So I become guarded and jaded toward men because that is a safe space for me.

So I often ask myself, how come I can’t take the first step? I have a hard time cracking this code within myself because I second guess myself. Also fear? Probably. Or, is it fear that people I talk to think less of me? I have put myself on an out of reach pedestal so now I have become inaccessible to anyone of the opposite sex.

This fear is something that I would like to work on more and continue to grow. Maybe more support from my friends and go on a double date. This is what helped me when it came time to get on my new horse. Friends are there to support me when I am not feeling confident. Every one needs help sometimes and always going it alone does not work for me!

Entry 8

Connecting or Distancing

Entry 9

Drama

Entry 10

Life is Difficult

Entry 11

Social Anxiety

1 ~ I Could’ve Been Stronger

I have always dealt with my social anxiety as long as I can remember. I would always be too shy and too afraid to speak for myself. So I would cling to my mom’s leg, or my brother Ron would speak for me. It tool a lot for me to open up unless I was comfortable with some one.

When I was a kid, I was diagnosed with [social] anxiety disorder (A.K.A Cluster C Avoidant Personality Disorder). Honestly, I really don’t know what it is like to not have social anxiety. I could be walking down the street and hear someone laughing in the distance and it always felt like they were laughing at me or making fun of me. There is not always logic, Just a feeling.

person standing near trees

When it comes to relationships (not just romantic but relationships in general) if someone is mad or makes a poor choice, I feel like it’s somehow a reflection on me or that I could have done something for things to turn out differently. When I was with T, I blamed myself for giving him too much time to build hid business when he just wasted the time. When I was with E, I blamed myself for losing the baby even though I know it is not the case. Some things just happen.

There’s a lot that I put on myself when it’s not anything necessarily anything I could have done. So I is hard to get myself out of the cycle. I have even blamed myself for getting raped and sexually assaulted on many occasions. It’s just that constant fear in the back of my mind that I could have been stronger. I should’ve been better. I could’ve been in a different place at the time. I should’ve been stronger…there’s always something. But their actions aren’t on me.

Entry 12

Panic Attacks

Entry 13

Anger versus Temper

Entry 14

Your Truth

Entry 15

Emotional Aviodance

Entry 16

Judgment

Entry 17

Fear of failure

Entry 18

Self-Observation


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Copyright © 2022 Catherine G. Cleveland

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