THE BEST WAY TO BATTLE ANXIETY

Head on.

Face it dead in the face.

Recognize it, work against it, and keep moving.

Here’s the backstory behind how myself and anxiety became close (& now) estranged acquaintances:

I had never been the individual who had anxiety.

I have always been and am someone who is very outgoing and direct. Never being one to shy away from speaking in front of others or tackling things that others might see as scary and forlorn. I just kind of went after things. The way I was raised and the experiences I went through as a child, molded me into who I am.

It also came from always being prepared. It’s pretty difficult to be anxious when you’re prepared for the likelihoods and the potentials.

SO it came as a shock to me my first year of college when I started experiencing major anxiety. Though thinking back on that period of my life, it shouldn’t have come as a total shock to me. Solely because college is filed with never being adequately prepared for the likelihoods and potentials. Basically, college is a shit show of roller coasters and variating emotions 24/7. After all, it is where we’re all supposed to go find ourselves. Go figure.

Now some of you may be wondering what that (my major anxiety) looked like.

For me, it felt crippling.

My anxiety stemmed solely from my academics. & Nothing else. I would call my mom and my sister (from another mister/mother) Caresse almost everyday crying about the stresses that came with college and being so far away from home. The level of academic excellence that I held myself to was draining, but the reward always proved worth it. However, my anxiety continued to get the best of me. It was one afternoon after sitting in front of my computer for hours studying that I knew I needed to seek help.

Although, I didn’t get the traditional help that many of you may be thinking. I didn’t go see a doctor or get laced up with all kinds of medications because my anxiety was situational and not as crippling as I had once thought.

I decided to stop going around it and face it head on, beginning with asking myself a few questions:

What exactly are you anxious about Thelma?

What’s your worst fear (related to academics of course)?

How can you stop yourself from feeling anxious going forward?

What do you need from others in your time of anxiety?

The answer to battling my anxiety was right there in those questions. In order to successfully face my anxiety, I had to recognize it; work against it; and keep moving.

After five years, doing so continues to be the best way I know how to battle anxiety today.

Though I don’t get anxiety anywhere near what I used to experience all those years ago, in very stressful school situations it can tend to rear its ugly head every now and again.

However, with the knowledge that I gained that first year of college — I now know the best way to battle anxiety is to face the dragon, fight the dragon, and WIN.

To battling your dragons safely and successfully,

Thelms xx