You Are So Much More Than Your Anxiety

Repeat after me: You are not your anxiety.

Say it again: You are not your anxiety.

Let that phrase run through your mind the way the thousands of other nagging ideas do, let that phrase stop those irritating creatures from chewing away at the insides of your mind and tearing holes in your stomach. Let. That. Stop.

You are not your anxiety – you are not the group of people you couldn’t form words in front of because you were too busy thinking, you are not the irrational response you give to social gatherings. You are not the bills you think will drag you down, or the job you think you’re awful at. You are not the future that keeps you awake at night, or the past you find yourself dwelling on unable to change. You are not the body you think you see when you look down at yourself at the gym, or the flaws you find in your smile you think everyone sees…because those are thoughts. They are not reality.

You are you – strong, smart, and courageous because you wake up in the morning and put your feet on the ground and tell yourself you can make it through the day. You are the happy laughs that others around you find deep down because you’ve said something funny without trying. You’re the dimpled smile you find yourself able to give others even when you don’t think you’re capable, paired with the reassuring “You are wonderful” given to people when you can tell they genuinely need to hear it. You are the key strokes on your computer that form words you’re proud of and wish to give others hope with. You are the goals and aspirations you’re striving for day by day just by trying and achieving small steps at a time.

Most importantly, you are the fight you’ll bring to conquer those thoughts – every single one of them, because that’s who you are, the person who won the fight with their own mind. You are not your anxiety.