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I.M. Messed-up 27 May 2021

Unhappy, confused, drunk, beaten-up are just some words I found in a dictionary to explain the meaning of messed-up. It also could mean having mental problems or unpleasant experiences.
Usually I mess it up myself.

Anxieties

An anxiety could be a series of complex thoughts that keeps my mind busy. I can't stop the thoughts. Such thoughts are triggered by emotions. Typically the negative ones. I am fearful, afraid or perhaps ashamed. Now my anxious thoughts are typically distorted. It always seems a lot worse than the actual reality. A name for this phenomena is 'cognitive distortion'.

Messed-Up

In my mind and thinking the anxieties are messed-up. It is very helpful to care for a written analysis. Just do it. It helps a lot.
Take a paper and begin with writing briefly what triggered the anxiety. Then write down some of the emotions you experience. Annoyance, fear, shame, whatever. For each emotion write down some of the anxious (often 'unfriendly') thoughts. It may feel pretty bad.

Clearing up the Mess

Next for each anxious thought try to see if there could be cognitive distortions like: exaggeration, assuming, filtering as just seeing the bad in a person, jumping to unproven conclusions, labeling and blaming. Now it is time to correct the anxious thoughts into more realistic and helpful thoughts.
When I do such an exercise, I find both relief and practical helpful insights.

Prayer

Father God, please teach me to find truth in my life.

https://pixabay.com/photos/knot-mess-chaos-tangle-complexity-4981771/

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