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Belongs to: Can you relate to zach s struggles with anxiety sh
@heartsupport anxiety is just as much a part of my day as breathing is. It’s my normal, until it’s not
Yes - 100%. It’s hard when life is indistinguishable when it’s “broken” and when it’s not. Or…perhaps better said - when life “isn’t broken”, it “feels broken”, because it’s so unusual, or - honestly - never happens. Anxiety is something that once you spot it, it can feel like the water you’re swimming in - and to realize - uh oh…it’s literally everywhere…it can be really discouraging and overwhelming. Because then you see the problem but don’t know what to do about it - I mean…I’m a fish…this is my tank…so…what do I even do? Which is why I appreciate you sharing here because there’s something powerful about us naming it. Because if we don’t name it, we can’t change it. Additionally, once we name it TO OTHERS it’s particularly powerful because we can get other people’s brains on our own story. We can hear their perspectives, what’s worked for them, we can grow in our hope that things CAN get better. And in that, we are not alone, because we have the strength and inspiration from others to make change that once felt impossible. For me, I am not “cured” of anxiety, but I am significantly better than I was. There have been only a few “waterfall” moments - it has mostly been improvement from the consistent pursuit of my mental health through a variety of means. And it was always spurred on by community. By being around people who were pursuing better for themselves as well, and their improvements inspiring me to keep going. Learning that I can be loved as I am and not as I think I should be. Getting and staying in therapy. Working through trauma. All the things, right? But the point isn’t the “how it happened” - the point is THAT change happened. That is hope. And the point wasn’t that there was “one thing that worked” - the point is that it required more than just me to make it work. Which is why what you’re doing here is brilliant! You’re looping others into that WITH you. So your strength grows. Well done! Let’s keep going!
Anxiety can really feel as if it’s just a second skin sometimes. It shapes so much of your perception and so much of your internal experience that it almost becomes what the world, and life, is for you as a whole. When there seems to be this constant voice in your mind fearing the worst, making all kinds of scenarios and running after it over and over just to maintain a sense of control… it’s exhausting to know this inner dialogue every single day. I’m sorry anxiety has been a part of your life and of your experiences, friend. It’s hard when it feels like our struggle(s) has become our normality. That somehow it shapes and define the type of experience we would be meant to have for our entire life. You see others seemingly having different lives - better ones -, and you wish you could break down the walls that anxiety creates inside, just to have glimpse of what life could be without it. This is definitely a tough battle, my friend, and I hope with all my heart that you’ll keep on standing up for yourself and calling anxiety for its bullshit. Like an unwanted relative in our life that keeps on pressuring us over and over, we can learn to set boundaries with it and embrace our value against the same it tries to put on us. You, my friend, are so much more than your anxiety - your identity, your self, your being, is so whole and so bright, above and beyond what your anxiety keeps conditioning you to see or feel. 