When I saw that John Delony had a new book out, I had to get my hands on it. This is the easiest read about anxiety I think I have ever read. John inserts some of his humor and his personal experiences into the pages. If you haven’t heard of John Delony, he has his own podcast called The Dr. John Delony Show definitely worth a listen! Among John’s amazing education and experience he spent years working in crisis and emergency response. He has real life experience helping others in some of the worst days of their lives. He gives 6 daily choices that help with anxiety. His introduction on anxiety really hit me as different from some of the others that I have read; starting with how he is identifying anxiety throughout the pages of his book.
“Before we go any further, I want to make sure we’re using the same language. When I say anxiety, I’m talking about all of it. Yes, I’m referring to clinical anxiety, phobias, and social anxiety. But I’m also talking about debilitating worry and fear and chronic stress and burnout, and how our lives have been flooded with constant, heightened levels of threats and chaos. Anxiety is no longer just a clinical term – it’s now part of the cultural vernacular.” Pg. 4
Why we need to change the way we talk about anxiety.
“Consequently, the things we’ve been doing to reduce or resolve our anxiety aren’t working… “We’re putting Band-Aids over bullet holes. No wonder things feel like they’re coming apart.” Pg. 5
What practical tips does he recommend? This is just a short take away on these 6 daily choices that I really appreciated! By no means take my word for it, just read it for yourself. I hope you enjoy it just like I did.
“Six daily choices.” Pg. 79
- Choose reality:
“Choosing reality is the practice of taking a true inventory of your life, your work, your relationships, and your values.” pg. 90
“You have to choose to live in truth, however painful and ugly it might be. Choosing reality is where all healing and change begins.” pg. 90
- Choose Connection:
“Communication is not connection. Technology allows for communication, not connection.” pg. 123
“Technology leaves me over-informed and under-experienced. Folks know a lot of stuff about me, and I see a lot of things about them, but we don’t know each other at all.” pg. 123
- Choose Freedom:
Money, time, boundaries, clutter & stuff.
“The conscious and unconscious ways we give away our lives in exchange for the promise of the good life. In other words, where we trade our freedom for illusions.” pg. 144
- Choose Mindfulness:
“Begin interacting with the world in new ways, by new patterns, and with new understanding. This also plays a key role in learning to change the way you talk to yourself and others, transforming your life from one of mindless reaction to being intentionally proactive.” pg. 177
“Choosing to be mindful instead of reactive allows you to examine your body’s response and your thoughts from a 30,000-foot view. This perspective changes everything.” pg. 180
“Challenging your thoughts – taking the time to lengthen the gap between something happening and your response-is brave and difficult. So don’t be lulled into thinking mindfulness is easy or passive. Its real work!” pg. 192
- Choose Health and Healing:
“You have to take care of your body and recover from past traumas. You have to step into new relationships and grieve old ones. You have to incorporate exercise and movement into each day. You may need a therapist. You certainly need some blood work. You have to choose to believe you’re worth being well. This path is painful. And wildly uncomfortable. Choosing health and healing is often two steps forward, six steps back. You realize you’re carrying trauma, and your life has been reduced to heavy feelings and a hurting back and knees. You’re not caring for your own precious body. You’ve stopped changing the oil, and you have two flat tires, and you’re wondering why the car isn’t driving well.” pg. 202
- Choose Belief:
“To truly create a non-anxious life, you have to choose Belief. I recognize this is where I might lose many of you, but please stay with me. If I don’t make my case, you can disregard my perspective here and move on. But my hope is to offer a final portal into the non-anxious life-the foundation that your entire life is anchored to.” pg. 227
Choosing to follow these steps and to break through our anxieties and silence the alarms is a conscious decision and takes a lot of work. I found this book to be really encouraging and chalked full of other resources that I can’t wait to dive into. I hope you will give this book a chance and that you find some take away some great gems that will help you.
