Learn about the common triggers of anxiety and why you might experience anxious feelings even when everything appears to be going well in your life. Gain insight and tips on how to manage these emotions effectively.

Why You Feel Anxious When Everything Is Going Well?

How to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop… 

Overview

For some people, happiness is hard. Have you ever felt like curling into a ball in a corner or hiding under the covers in your bed when everything in your life is going well? It&rsquo;s confusing isn&rsquo;t it? But it&rsquo;s okay. It&rsquo;s nothing to further panic about.

It&rsquo;s not unusual to feel more anxious after you&rsquo;ve finally reached a good place in your life &mdash; whether it&rsquo;s hard-earned success, good news you were hoping to receive, reaping the fruits of your labour or when something you really wanted is finally happening. 
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Carla Marie Manly, a clinical psychologist and author of the book Joy From Fear says, &ldquo;<a href="https://merisehat.pk/disease/anxiety">Anxiety</a> can be a bit tricky, as it&rsquo;s a primitive response that&rsquo;s hard-wired into the brain. The brain&rsquo;s fear circuit works very quickly, and it doesn&rsquo;t always pause to differentiate between good anxiety and bad.&rdquo;

She reveals that for some people it&rsquo;s physically hard to accept happiness. Because the physical symptoms your body experiences when something good happens are very similar to those associated with fear or panic. 
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Happiness Hard For Some

This is because your body and you are most likely addicted to pain. It sounds ridiculous, because who enjoys pain, right? It&rsquo;s because your body is attuned to being in a state of panic. The pain is what&rsquo;s familiar. It&rsquo;s the &lsquo;normal&rsquo; your body is used to being in.

According to studies, when your body has become accustomed to being in a constant state of anxiety, positive changes, both physiological and emotional, that happen in your body following something good can be triggering. In the sense your body starts sending signals that something isn&rsquo;t right. Because feeling good isn&rsquo;t &lsquo;normal&rsquo; for your body. You&rsquo;re used to being hypervigilant. 
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Other Shoe to Drop

Some people &mdash; a lot of people actually &mdash; are in a state where they&rsquo;re constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. Such people react almost fearfully to life going well, as if they&rsquo;re waiting for something bad to happen.

This may be because when they were younger, periods of calm or happiness were followed by something sudden or bad happening.

There are a variety of complex reasons why anyone chooses to react fearfully to good things in life. This could include growing up in a family where the news of your success was met with anger or resentment or experiencing loss after getting something. It might also be trouble with being comfortable feeling vulnerable &mdash; you have happiness and something to lose now. 
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Conclusion

The good thing is, anxiety can be managed. You don&rsquo;t have to live an anxious, fearful life especially when there is nothing to be anxious or fearful about and everything to celebrate or feel grateful about. With some tips and practise on managing anxiety, you can learn to enjoy the calm and sit back, instead of waiting for everything to fall apart. 
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