1. That you’re dying.

Your anxiety may tell you that your life ends here. You may lie on the bathroom floor, look up at the white ceiling, and wonder what the hell you’re living for, but do me a favor; stand up, look around, notice the burning candle or the sound of the television and realize how worthy of being alive you truly are.

2. That you deserve it.

You don’t deserve it. You don’t deserve to feel like a prisoner in your own body. You don’t deserve to feel like a lion in a mouse’s cage. You don’t deserve to feel like this is your fault. You don’t.

3. That your suffering is justified.

Just because you feel it every day, just because you let it crawl under your skin, just because your anxiety treats your body like the party it wasn’t invited to doesn’t mean that it will ever, ever be justified.

4. That you have to give in.

Even if you feel like you have to answer to your mind’s every request, you are in control. Keep saying it until you mean it. You are in control. You are in control. You are in control.

5. That you will never, ever be happy.

One day, you will look back on this and you will appreciate it as part of your journey because that’s all it will be: just a part.

6. That you’re worthless.

You are not and have never been worthless. Someone wakes up every day thanking God that you’re in their life.

7. That no one will ever love a mess like you.

One day, someone will come along and not look at you like a bunch of scrambled puzzle pieces. One day, someone will look at you and slowly piece you together because to them, you’ll be worth every moment.

8. That every moment of weakness is your fault.

The pain you feel now, the cold in your chest, the fire in your hands, the ache in your lungs; it will all go away soon, and when it does, you’ll know for sure that it was never your fault in the beginning.

9. That you aren’t strong.

No, you aren’t. “Strong” isn’t a good word to describe you. You are brave, extraordinary, a miracle, and so, so worthy.

10. That you’ll never stop feeling this way.

Close your eyes, take the deepest breath you can, and know that your life isn’t nearly as bad as your anxiety is. You will be okay.

11. That anxiety is all you are and all you ever will be.

Anxiety is too small for you. You are so much more. Take out a piece of paper and write down all the things that you are. Then, look back on it and realize that anxiety didn’t even make the list.

12. That you will never be the wife/husband, father/mother, or best friend that you need to be.

You already are. Somewhere, you’ve left your mark on somebody’s life. You are already exactly who you need to be.

13. That you need this empty feeling to survive.

I know that you’ve convinced yourself that you are nothing without your anxiety. I know you’ve lied in bed wondering just who you are without your panic attacks. I know who you are. You are somebody.

14. That this is where your story ends.

It’s not. Just turn the page.