At a time when anxieties, fears, and strings of uncertainty are revving up, sometimes it’s important to look back and see how far we’ve come.
Feb. 2020 was not the month it was supposed to be. I was supposed to be basking in the excitement of getting one of the leads in my high school’s musical. I was supposed to be planning for our Senior Class Trip to Disney. I was supposed to feel good, yet I felt the complete opposite.
At the beginning of Feb., I experienced a weekend full of paralyzing anxiety and intense sessions of panic that seemed to be a prelude to the looming, pandemic-laced months ahead. I was in a state of emotional exhaustion from not only that nerve-wracking weekend, but also in the days after as I was recovering from what felt like the longest 72 hours of my life, thus far.
I had been dealing with anxiety for almost five years, so I was used to resiliency– except this time my journey in recovering from this experience took me a long time.
I decided that I was going to grasp the things that brought me joy–my so-called “anchors.”
I immersed myself in the world of political reporting and the Iowa Caucuses that were occurring around that time. While some may view that as yet another stress-inducer, I, as an aspiring political reporter, viewed it as my escape and as an outlet for my marathon-running-mind.
Fast forward an almost-one-year-pandemic later, the world looks a lot different, but I’m proud of how far I’ve come, anchors and all and I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for the long-winding road of growth and resiliency.