Enjoy Life — Don't Be in Our Own Way

Who has ever felt anxious, depressed, sad. or just unhappy? Yep! That's what I thought, everybody. So by knowing that you are not the only one that has ever suffered from something, listen (more like keep your eyes open) to what I say (write).I want to tell you a little bit of what I am going through and what I've been through, so you understand me better, because who wants to take an advice from a complete stranger right?

Since I can think I was always an anxious person, I had problems going to the supermarket myself. Why is that? Because my parents raised me in a way that I never had to do things myself, now that I am 21 years old I have troubles doing things by myself.

We all feel kind of anxious and a little bit nervous when we meet new people or go somewhere we don't know anybody or anything, but if that feeling hinders you to do things you want to do, it starts to become a problem.

I always wanted to take dance classes. I never had the opportunity to do it, now I have it and I don't do it. Why? Because I am afraid. Afraid to fail, afraid of what other people might think of me. This is just one thing of many and it shows how much anxiety and fear are controlling my life.

I still didn't overcome it completely, but I am working on it. The first thing you have to do is being aware of why you are anxious. Once you found out why you are scared, you can start asking yourself "What am I afraid of?" This might not lead to a milestone, you might not overcome anxiety with just acknowledging its present, but it's a baby step that helps you understand your mind better.

So what can I do then? Well, take little steps. If you are a super anxious person that has troubles even going out to eat, start by going somewhere to order food to take out.

If you have something in your life that you would like to do but you are in your own way, accept that maybe you need to begin with small steps first. Anything that makes you feel anxious is a place to start, but I don't believe in pushing yourself in an uncomfortable way to do things. If you don't feel comfortable going to a dance class by yourself, maybe start going to the dance studio yourself to ask for their schedule and classes. Try going there first to get familiar with the building and the people that work there. Once you did that, you can maybe just watch one class to see how that looks like. Whenever you feel ready, you can go take the class.

Taking a dance class is obviously just a metaphor that I used to describe what you can do. Take small steps if you want to overcome anxiety. If you push yourself too hard and be too hard on yourself, chances are low that you succeed. It's kind of like when you first learned how to walk. Nobody just comes to earth and knows how to walk. First we lay, sit, crawl, stand and walk. If you try to make a baby walk that only knows how to crawl and not even how to stand, it probably won't learn how to walk anytime soon.

Try to figure out for your situation what small steps you can take and just focus on one thing at a time. If you do even something small, you will be proud and that will motivate you to do another step.

I hope this helps someone.

Don't let anxiety & co. rule your life!