Every step counts

So as I have said before I started my blog to look at the emotional and physical connection between my anxiety and my heart health. But I also hope it will resonate with anyone who suffers with any sort of anxiety. In today's blog I would like to concentrate on the fallout of the fear and debilitation that anxiety causes. Anyone suffering with their mental health knows that even when it is acknowledged, it can be easily minimised or misunderstood by others, with common responses like "it's all in your head” or “you just need to snap out of it” or “you just have to try a bit harder”. Hmmm 🤔! 

Luckily there are some brilliant forums out there where we can read about other people's experiences, where we can simply say “hello” and if we want, we can share our thoughts. Knowing someone else's experience of anxiety can provide a sense of relief and validation. For anyone suffering with both the physical and emotional symptoms, knowing that others have similar experiences, says “wow, it's not all in my head”. 

I read a post recently that started with “I know I should …” and my heart went out to that person.The word "should" implies an obligation to complete an action But actually, for anyone with anxiety it can simply enhance their pain. How many times a day do you think or say the words “I should”? While “should” statements are not bad, for someone with mental health issues it can lead to increased stress. 

Now if we broke our arm for example we wouldn't push through the pain and trivialise what we had done. We would show ourselves care and compassion while it heals. Anxiety is no different. Just because it is an internal struggle does not make it any less real. By simply acknowledging that you may have anxiety, by reading about others experiences, even by reading my blog ☺️ you are slowly starting your healing process. How much you then participate is up to you. You set the pace. So maybe instead of “I know I should…..” maybe we could simply try “I might …” 

I suppose what I am saying is your journey with anxiety doesn't have to start with bearing your soul or even speaking out loud, be that to family, a friend or on a forum platform. Don't underestimate how amazing you are by simply acknowledging you have anxiety and still living your life as best you can. Be proud of that fact 💗. 

My sunshine moment today involves one of the things that helps me with my anxiety and that is my walking. Now as I mentioned before I can be a bit of a klutz when it comes to trips and falls which is why I am now the proud owner of a treadmill. So last night, or should I say in the early hours of the morning, there was a beeping noise coming from the spare bedroom and then a whirring noise 🤔. I walked into the room to find my treadmill going round on its slowest setting 😲. I turned it off and back to bed I went only to hear the exact same thing 20 minutes later 😵‍💫. So this time I switched it off at the mains and unplugged it. Now I would love to say once I had done this I was able to just get back into bed and drift straight back off to sleep! Yeah, that wasn't happening, instead I catastrophized about everything that could be wrong with my machine. I did eventually drift off to sleep and by the morning I was thinking a bit more rationally and chatting about it with my hubby. And that's when it came to me, the answer!! The only thing it could be - a giant (and very health conscious) spider. I mean come on, imagine the steps it could rack up with 8 legs 😂🤣. So all day all I have been having little chuckles thinking about Fred (yep that's what I am going to call him) with his sweat band on, putting his trainers on (slip ons of course - tying all those laces would take him forever 😆) and getting those heart points in ☺️. I suppose what I am saying is stuff happens, that is part of life and we can't really control that but how we deal with it, well just maybe, that we can try to take back a bit of control. I mean, for me, if I can catastrophize, why can't I also try to go in the totally opposite direction no matter how bizarre that may be 🫣. 


 Thanks for reading. Take care and a virtual hug to you all.


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