Think about the good times far more often

God, always tension, always anxiety.

No.

No, what?

No.

No?

No, not always.

You said that?

I did.

Doesn’t feel that way to me, feels like anxiety is my constant companion, and her evil friends, tension and stress 

No, actually, there are long stretches of time without them.

Long?

Minutes here, hours there. Sometimes whole days, almost.

That’s nowhere near enough.

No, but it’s a start, and this thought that they are always here, that’s a thought from them, planted in your mind by them.

Them?

The three you mentioned, Anxiety, Tension and Stress, but there are many more.

And?

And, you need to think far more about those moments between the dark ones.

Dark ones?

Dark moments, the times dominated by anxiety, depression, stress and tension. The lighter, brighter moments are the times you need to think about. Don’t feel down about the dark ones, feel hopeful about the lighter, brighter ones.

Too often it seems they’re not very long those ‘lighter, brighter’, times?

Aaah, yes, but they grow longer and brighter, and lighter too, if you think about them…

You mean more often – think about them more often?

Yes, that’s what I was going to say. Think about those times more often.

Any tips for how?

This one tip is enough to start with: Every time you think about how it seems you’re always feeling anxious, and dark, stop!

Stop that thought. Completely stop it just for a moment. Then think instead about how I told you tonight that the lighter brighter moments are more frequent than you realise, and that if you think about them, if you remember the last time you felt that life was great, and if you dwell on that memory, those lighter, brighter moments will grow more frequent and longer too. Dwell on how you felt last time you felt great and hopeful about life.