Whether you suffer from anxiety attacks, social anxiety, general anxiety, any type of anxiety, it does not matter. You are not alone, and you are in control. You are all beautiful and strong.
1. YOU ARE NOT YOUR ANXIETY, ANXIETY IS SIMPLY JUST A PART OF YOU.
Anxiety has a way of turning our lives (or heads) upside down. Whether it be for a moment when you’re having an anxiety attack, a pit in your stomach that last for days maybe weeks, or over thinking constantly.
We so badly try to find a comfort zone for anything that will make us feel better again. We get so caught up in our anxiety that we tend to forget that anxiety is NOT who we are, it’s just simply a PART of it. Train yourself to be at peace with this.
The more you fight it, the worse it gets. Everyone has their own demons, anxiety just happens to be ours.
2. YOUR ANXIETY DOESN’T CONTROL YOU, YOU DO.
This might be the hardest realization yet. It took me years to realize that my anxiety is something that I can actually control, yet also something that I contributed to. Not on purpose, of course (who would ever try to make their anxiety worse on purpose?) but by negative thinking, over thinking, being too hard on myself, or not taking care of myself properly.
Consider these questions: Do you constantly put yourself down? Do you always think of the worse case scenario? When’s the last time you got enough sleep? When’s the last time you did something relaxing?
Now, don’t get me wrong, this is all easier said than done. Unfortunately, there’s no light switch to just become a person who thinks positive all the time, and who skips through meadows while singing “Over The Rainbow”, that’s not realistic. I’m certainly not saying the above will get rid of your anxiety by any means, but by understanding your thought patterns and habits, more often that not you can see a connection, and make it less hard on yourself.
We might not be able to get rid of our anxiety, but we can definitely be in control of it so when we do get anxious it’s easier to deal with. Self-help books on anxiety, meditating, sleeping enough, and positive self-talk are all things that at the least, can lessen the effects of how long your anxiety lasts, or how mild it is.
3. THOUGHTS ARE JUST THOUGHTS .
This happens to be my favorite one as well as the most important, to me at least. Please let this sink in. THOUGHTS ARE JUST THOUGHTS. Just because it popped into our heads, doesn’t mean it’s real or going to happen.
Our brains process millions of thoughts per day. People who tend to have anxiety, think more and process thoughts more than the average person because our adrenaline is working much faster. Consider this: You’re lying in bed, out of nowhere your heart and mind starts racing. A million thoughts start going through your head. “Am I going crazy? What if I lose my job? What if my boyfriend leaves me? Other people are going to think I’m crazy. No one is going to understand me. Something must be wrong with me.”
Now, you’re more upset and have even more anxiety because you’re thinking of all these things. Let’s evaluate. You thought of all of this so it must be real, right? Wrong. You didn’t really think of this, your anxiety did. Anxious thoughts 99% of the time are never real. Your brain is just working in overdrive and you have no time to catch up with reality. Remind yourself thoughts are just thoughts .
Another method that also helped me is counteracting every what if with a positive one, The next time you have a case of the what if’s , try turning it into a positive. “What if I fail my math test?” “Yes, but what if I get an A?”
4. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
You are never, ever, alone even if you feel like you are. There are millions of people in the U.S alone who suffer from anxiety. We live in a generation now where so many people are vocal about it. The best decision I ever made was coming out from under my little rock and letting people know how I was feeling.
Not only was there a big weight lighted off of my shoulders, but it blew my mind how many people were feeling the same way but just never said anything to me about it. The more you talk about how you feel and don’t hide from it, the less it controls you. Take your power back. Be confident and proud of who you are.
Your anxiety and what you overcome only makes you that much stronger of a person. Don’t ever be ashamed. There’re so many people who understand exactly how you’re feeling, you just might not know it yet.
5. IT WILL GET BETTER, I PROMISE.
Just like happiness and sadness come and goes, so does anxiety. I promise you that you will not feel this way forever. Do things that make you happy, try to focus on the good things in life, love yourself for all that you are through the good, bad, and everything in-between. Most importantly, be strong and never give up.
No one is perfect , and perfect isn’t real. XOXO
