….anxiety
Sitting here thinking how I can possibly explain what I feel during an anxiety attack would be like trying to explain the taste of water or trying to explain the colors of the rainbow to a blind person. Its almost impossible. The best way I can explain how hard it is to actually control it is this: Its like holding onto a dog really tight. Sometimes it will be very calm and let you hold it and sometimes it will go crazy and buck and bite until you finally just give in and let it go. I could sit here and describe my anxiety to you but everyone has different types of anxiety and everyone has different triggers.
My triggers can happen with anything and everything. Someone looks at me a different way than they ever have before..triggered, things I plan don’t go the way I thought it would…triggered, or I don’t feel good enough when I look at myself….big trigger. Its a very dark place sometimes. But here are a couple ways I am able to coupe with it.
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Turn off your cell phone and step away from all social media
-when I am on my social medias sometimes I look at peoples profiles and think how perfect their lives are and how lucky they are. I get intimidated sometimes and that triggers it. Stop looking at those girls and their lives. Most people post pictures that are nothing but smoke and mirrors. No one is as perfect as they make themselves out to be online. Put down your phone and read a book. Get away from the real word for a couple hours.
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Go for a walk or run
-Exercise always make me feel so much better. When I go run I’m able to see all the beautiful nature that my God has created and I start to remember that the only one who can ever judge my way of living is Him. Let Go and Let God.
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Take a hot bubble bath
-These help me with late night anxiety attacks. When my mind is racing and it won’t stop I run a really hot bath and fill it up with Bath & Body’s “stress relief” bubble bath or get the body sugar scrub. It has eucalyptus tea that when inhaled your mind and body starts to relax. These are always the best.
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Write
-start writing down the feelings you get when you have your attacks. Write why you are feeling this anxiety and how you think it was triggered. It could be in a blog or on a sheet of paper. Write it all down and then throw it away. It will be like throwing away your anxiety.
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Pray hard
-I do this when I can start to feel attacks coming. I grab my Bible and coloring pencils and look up verses that I know have always helped me. I color the verse or draw in my Bible something peaceful. Hearts, animals, positive words. Things that make me happy. I also write on a sticky note everything that God has blessed me with. Its a #1 fact that if you remind yourself about all the many things you have been blessed with its hard to remember why you were stressed in the first place.
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Go to an animal shelter
-there are actually service dogs for people who have really bad anxiety. Animals do nothing but love you and want to be with you always. They never judge you or hate you. (okay maybe cats hate you or that may just be mine..) Playing with puppies and kittens always make me happy. Once my family got our dog Sadie my anxiety didn’t come around as much because she always keeps me entertained and always loves on me. Its almost like she can sense when its about to come and she’ll get really clam and come lay with me and I feel fine.
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Don’t give into the anxiety attacks
-always fight through your attacks. When I have my attacks all I want to do it quit. Quit whatever has triggered this anxiety. I’ve wanted to quit school many times, give up on my relationships, back out of competitions, not show up to meetings, etc. But I know thats what my mind wants me to do. And anytime I have given up I’ve regretted it, but when I fight through it I feel like I’m on top of the world and nothing can bring me down. I know YOU THINK it will make you feel better if you turn all the lights off and hide under the covers in your room…but thats giving in to it.
Anxiety is an awful demon that I never wish on anyone. I am not medicated for my anxiety because I believe its all in your mind and when you do things that make you feel better it will most likely go away. Do things that make you smile and make your heart happy. These are just a couple things that have helped me in the past and I sure hope they help you. Remember you’re a beautiful person with so much purpose in this life. You are good enough, actually you’re the perfect amount of enough. Things in life are very hard and we have to stick together to get through it.
What are someways you deal with anxiety? Let me know so I can share them with others who struggle with is awful demon.
