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Belongs to: Can you relate to zach s struggles with anxiety sh
Anxiety sucks big time…I struggle with it everyday
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Sure does suck…it’s like living under an invisible storm cloud, just waiting to rain on your parade in the moments you least want it. You experience joy - and it rains down reminding you it’s going to end, or that you’re not sure if you deserve it, or that you’re not sure if that’s what you should be feeling because don’t you remember that you’re unworthy, or that they don’t actually like you, or that you’re always going to end up disappointing people, or that the people who love you always end up leaving. You experience success, and it rains down the reminder that you are actually a fraud just waiting to be exposed, that it’s not as good as others, that you’re actually fooling yourself, that someone else is going to do better than you, that you got lucky or that it was a mistake. It keeps you from engaging in the things you want to do, from taking risks because what if I end up making a fool of myself? And it’s never this “explicit” or “clear”, it’s always just this invisible wall we hit, that keeps us from engaging, from daring, from trying, from LIVING. So yeah, it sucks big time. And I too struggle with it every day. In it with you. And I appreciate you sharing about that here. I think one of the things that I’ve seen in my own battle with anxiety is that most of it is just flat out lies. And it’s not lies I can usually combat in my own mind. I HAVE to get it out of my head in order to have others help me find the way back to the truth. Or in saying it out loud I just hear how ridiculous it is. But I have found that my own personal battle with anxiety is best fought in community. I draw a lot of strength from that. So what you’re doing here - sharing it - is so powerful. Thank you for posting.
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Hey there. Man, you’re not kidding. It’s super difficult these days to find a day without it . So much going on. We’re all racing to fulfill some or many obligations, So much uncertainty. It’s no wonder so many of us deal with it to some degree. That everready battery always trying to figure out something, trying to second guess some future possibility or ruminate over some past thing. And let’s not even talk about what happens with the brain if you should wake up at 3am. We all have the propensity to want to figure out things, be prepared. Anxiety is more than happy to feed on all the what-ifs.
My anxiety really kicked into high gear the older I got and it hasn’t settled down. My only saving grace is more recently since I’ve been practicing meditation regularly I’ve slowly developed a tool that can physiologically start to turn off that sympathetic nervous system and let the rest of my body relax and let go. If fact, that’s one of the many mantras I use is “Let go” while I focus on slowing my breathing, deep breath in, extending my exhale and repeat. There’s a moment when I suddenly become aware of all the tension I’m holding. Even when I think I’m relaxed I realize my shoulders are still tense or I’m my jaw is clenched. It’s staggering realizing just how much stress gets held onto throughout the day. I have no doubt if it wasn’t for the daily meditations my mental health would be much worse. Stress still happens, anxiety still happens, a LOT but I’m so grateful that I now have something to offset all the built up stress and anxiety throughout the day.
I used to feel like nothing would help. I even thought like so many that meditation didn’t work or wouldn’t work for me or it was too hard or something. But the truth was that I just wasn’t putting my needs high enough. I wasn’t taking my needs seriously. In fact it was a big shift in how I thought about a lot of things that helped. I stopped thinking I had to power through everything or overcome it or something. It all just made me feel in conflict with myself. I shifted it to try and be more accepting of my feelings, even the junk. It was like a revelation in how it changed. It definitely helped in dealing with strong emotions. Less judging of myself.
I appreciate you sharing, for reaching out. You are not alone in this. I hope you find ways to offset the anxiety thoughts and give yourself care and grace.
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