Hey You, With Anxiety.
Hey you,
Yeah you, the one over there with the pit in your stomach the size of a soccer ball,
The one who can’t seem to catch your breath, regardless of how hard you try,
The one who dreads going to sleep at night because you know how hard your mind will fight to be heard.
You are not alone.
Hey you with that tightness in your chest; that burning in your throat as tears threaten to spill over; that constant fear that something will happen to spark your next panic attack and then it’ll be all over.
You are heard.
Hey you with the over-active imagination, who makes yourself cry daily with the daydreams of traumatizing occurrences happening to people you love.
You with the crippling fear of distance and abandonment, who longs to fly but is bound to the ground by anxiety.
You are loved.
Anxiety may be invisible to the eye, but it’s very real and very relevant. You know that. Don’t buy into the lie that it’s not a big deal, that it’s there because of a faith problem or a lack of trust. Believe that you are known and loved, that you were created with a purpose and for a purpose, and that good can and will come from this.
Be kind to yourself. Expect the same of yourself as you expect of others… love, patience, respect. You are no less of a person than the one next to you with a spinal injury, the one across from you with aspergers, or the one behind you with a 4.2 GPA and a full-ride to college.
Love yourself. Because God created you intentionally, knowing each and every crevice of your heart and soul, and because your anxiety doesn’t make Him love you any less.
Love yourself. Because if the Creator of the universe– the only One who we can accurately define as “perfect”– chooses to love you, you have no reason not to.
Love yourself. Because you were made to be loved. Because grace will follow that love. And because while the anxiety may still be there, love will refuse to let you be defined by it.
