How to feel less anxious - 8 suggestions

Last week I published my post on daily life anxiety, which is widely spread among our fast moving society. During the last days I thought about some strategies that help me when I have anxious thoughts. I know that every person is different and therefore everyone needs their own strategy, but maybe my ideas are helpful and inspire you. 

1. Calm down and breathe slowly - I know it sounds silly, but if you are experiencing a sudden wave of anxiety, concentrate on breathing in and out for a minute or two. Your brain will focus on breathing and forget at least a little bit about the anxious thoughts. 
2. Talk to someone - If the anxious thoughts keep coming back, confide to a friend or someone you know will listen. The person doesn't have to be a specialist. The most important thing is to share your thoughts and let them out. Most likely you will feel better afterwards. 
3. Don't drink too much coffee or alcohol - you may think it'll help you calm down, but it mostly adds to your anxious thoughts and makes them worse after a while. So instead drink enough water and tea (fresh ginger is very good in tea!). 
4. Enjoy the moment - Don't think too much about the future. Anxious thoughts often relate to the future. But the future isn't always something that you can change. Be in the present instead. Every moment will soon be past and you don't want to miss it. So try to relish every moment instead of worrying about a time that hasn't even come yet. 
5. Exercise - Doing sport helps me a lot. If you haven't figured out what sport you like, start doing that. There are so many options and there is always a sport that fits you. During and after sport, I always feel so much better, relaxed and happy with myself. It's nice to have feelings of happiness. And it's a lot easier to fall asleep after having exercised. 
6. Travel - Travelling, seeing other countries and meeting new people always cheers me up. When you're travelling, you're far away from your daily routine, your work and your everyday problems. You are in a new situation and you have the possibility to figure out what you really want, because every time you travel you learn something new about yourself. 
7. Go outside - If the sun is shining, take a long walk. Breathing fresh air calms me down enormously and helps me focus on positive things. The sun has a super power and it's for free, so enjoy it!
8. Be yourself - don't let anyone change you! If someone doesn't accept you how you are (with all the anxious thoughts that you may have), then stop spending time with that person. Figure out what is good for you and what helps you be yourself, feel good about yourself and try every day to do a lot of this stuff so that you feel less anxious and better about yourself. 

These 8 strategies help me feel better and feel less anxious about things. If you have other ideas, please let me know so that we can share our experience! 

True friendship

In the age of social media, we make new contacts every day. It is easy to connect with people even if they are living in another country. We have hundreds of "friends" on Facebook and many more followers on Instagram and Twitter. The world is full of people and I personally know a lot of people. But what makes those people real friends? 
Everyone gets disappointed by people. I also had people around me that I thought were true friends, but in the end they disappointed me and they didn't care about our "friendship". Only when it was too late I discovered that those people only cared about themselves. 

So what is true friendship? 

1. Honesty: A true friend doesn't lie to you. Friends tell each other everything straight forward and certainly don't talk behind your back. If you did something wrong, your friends brings it up right away so that it can be settled immediately. 
2. Love: True friends love you. They accept your flaws as well. They want to spend time with you when you're in a good mood as well as in a bad mood. True friends help each other and are there for each other - no matter what. True friends are there for you in good AND bad times. I've known a person who I thought was my friend and we spend a lot of time together and even went together on vacation. But once she started a relationship with a boy, she had no need for friends anymore and didn't care when I had a hard time in my life. People like that aren't your real friends. After having learnt that I am more confident. If you realize that a person only uses you for entertainment or whatever, don't feel bad to end the so called friendship. You'll feel better and have more time for your real friends. 
3. Sympathy: True friends show sympathy when you are sick or sad about something. They are also glad for you once you achieved a goal at work or in your private life. They aren't jealous, but are happy for you as you are for them! 
4. Forgiveness: Every friendship encounters problems. Sometimes one person makes a mistake and that leads to some tensions. The key is to talk about it, to apologize and to forgive. If it's a true friendship, it can survive those difficulties and even get stronger. 
5. Happiness: A true friendship is full of happiness. True friends spend wonderful times together and even if you have a lot of stress at work, you forget about everything when you spend time with your friend. A true friend makes you laugh and enjoy life. Friends do not make each other miserable. They support each other in hard times and make each other's life more livable. 

 It takes a lot of time to develop a true friendship and it is important to take some time for your friend. Friendship shouldn't be neglected. Even a relationship shouldn't have the power to destroy a friendship. Let's think about our true friends and be happy that we've found them.