All of us have times in our life where we just have to push on through. Just clench your teeth, put your head down, and walk straight into the metaphorical wind of whatever you are fighting against. Living with anxiety disorder, I have done some version of this pretty much every day of my life. In fact, I attribute my stubbornness in overcoming a lot of writing obstacles to the fact that I have a lot of practice in not giving up.
This past month I have been pushing through a lot. I’ve just been feeling physically awful for much of the month. I’m not sure how much is physical and how much is a result of an anxiety flare-up like I haven’t had in years. But I’ve been pushing through because when you have a 5-year-old, you have things to do. So I’ve done a lot of pretending lately.
Pretending my stomach doesn’t feel like the acid is churning like a whirlpool.
Pretending the acid isn’t crawling back up my throat.
Pretending my head isn’t pounding.
Pretending my brain doesn’t feel foggy and silent.
Pretending my brain doesn’t feel under so much mental pressure that it might explode.
Pretending that I don’t feel as if I truly will go insane.
Pretending that I don’t want to scream or cry.
Pretending that my legs aren’t weak and shaky.
Pretending I don’t feel unstable or vertiginous.
Pretending everything’s fine when all I want to do is go back to bed.
I am good at pretending. Most people never know. I want it that way.
At the moment, I think all this is anxiety-related. Some of it feels familiar, although it doesn’t present like it did the last time I had a major flare up (years ago). But all of the above COULD be anxiety-induced. October was a very stressful month, both good stress and bad stress, and now that the stress is over, as usual, I “fall apart.” And the end of November is always a hard time for me. My best friend’s birthday is November 29th. I lost her to cancer almost 12 years ago. The grief sneaks up on me every year at this time. So that’s likely a component of the anxiety, too.
I will continue to push through, because that is what I do. And, really, it’s the only thing to do, so I can get to the other side of this and move on. I’m dusting off my “anxiety coping mechanisms” and hoping they’ll help.
So that’s a glimpse into my world and what I’m pushing through to reach my dreams. What are you pushing through? What have you pushed through to get to where you are?
When my father died in 1995 that was a stressful time. A day later I was at my computer typing out a story. Writing to me feels normal so when the unpleasant stuff happens, I continue writing because it means that everything’s OK. October / November are tough for me because the days get shorter. My energy just goes and I want to crawl into a bed and hibernate. I have Walter Mitty dreams of spending future winters in Florida where the days are a bit longer and weather warmer.
Barbara of the Balloons
Maybe someday you’ll get your dream! A lot of people have that problem with the winter. Keep pushing,Popple!