I tried everything. And when I say everything, I mean therapy, journaling, meditation, yoga, a sleep schedule and green tea–– but nothing ever satisfied my anxiety. I started pushing people away, but that didn’t make anything better. I feared that if people discovered I was suffering from anxiety that they would mistake it as wanting their sympathy, but people not knowing made it even harder.
I never understood what triggered my anxiety; I was under the impression that it only affected people who had a tragic past, but I didn’t have one. I ignored the symptoms at first, but it wasn’t until a few months later that things began to get worse. I started letting my anxiety and panic attacks take over my body. That was my biggest mistake. Overthinking became my best friend; I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I couldn’t see who I was anymore. People started noticing the change in my behaviour and mistook it as being disrespectful.
I don’t get epiphanies often, but I once heard somebody say, “never give anything the power to overshadow the real you.” That hit hard. It’s not like hearing that magically took away my anxiety, but it gave me the self-assurance I needed to fight back. I wasn’t going to let my anxiety define me––and neither should you. No therapy or medication will improve your mental health better than you can, and your road to recovery should not be contingent on others. I am not going to give you the typical “be yourself” advice, but what I can tell you is to start prioritizing yourself by never giving somebody the power to make you feel inferior. You may never feel completely fine, but you have to remember that waking up in the morning and mustering up enough strength to conquer yet another day with conviction is the biggest accomplishment. In simpler words: don’t give up.
Life will never treat you too kindly and that is not your fault; people will come and go and will force you to be somebody you are not, and that is not your fault. Most importantly, having anxiety is not your fault. You will only be faulty if you let it define who you are. Take care of yourself, get back on track and never look back.
Here are some affirmations to help your anxiety not get the best of you:
- Make sure you keep the ones who were there for you when you felt your lowest close to your heart.
- Make yourself the leader of your thoughts.
- Tell yourself every day that you are strong enough to take on new and recurring challenges.
- Sometimes the people you trust the most are the ones who are going to end up hurting you and that is okay because trusting them was your choice and breaking it was theirs.
- Always be proud of yourself no matter what.
- Don’t surround yourself with people who make you feel inferior.
- Give yourself a break: don’t be too hard on yourself because when the right time comes, things will fall into place.
I can’t promise that these affirmations will help you kiss your anxiety goodbye, but they will give you the strength to not lose yourself in the process. Always keep yourself first and remember who you are.