Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Aug/Sept 2016 Aspire Mag Full Issue | Page 72

8 WAYS TO REDUCE ANXIETY BY CONTEMPLATING YOUR Gratitude BY DR. COLLEEN GEORGES I t’s an increasingly demanding world we are living in. It’s a world that bombards us with messages from our televisions, social media, print media, and beyond, about how we should incessantly be achieving in career, relationships, lifestyle, and everywhere in between. In an attempt to remain on top of it all, we do a lot of juggling, and it gets exhausting. This kind of living breeds anxiety, as we find ourselves worried that we haven’t done it all just right, that perhaps we’ve made too many mistakes, not measured up, irreparably harmed our futures, or simply don’t have enough of what we need within or around us to be happy or successful. As a Positive Psychology Coach, I work with a lot of clients who are living with intense anxiety as a result of unachievable standards they’ve created for themselves. I understand these challenges quite well, as I once lived with them too. Like many of my 72 www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2016