Hello - and Hello Fear

Hello, there! And hello fear. Leah here. My boss asked me about a year ago if I would be interested in taking on our blog. Since I am fairly decent at writing (or at least my mom and another person told me that) and it is not something that I mind too much, I thought, sure, why not? I accepted the challenge willingly - bravely, even. But then the reality of what I had volunteered to do hit me. I will be expected to write something intelligent, captivating, and, hopefully, witty on a regular basis to be posted on our website, maybe our social media, where it could be read by the world - eek! Before this, my writing was only read by my parents and professors. This is an entirely different scenario, and it filled me with fear/anxiety. My brain, in its self-preservation mode, was telling me to retreat, to avoid this kind of exposure. I have spent the last year moving this blog-writing ordeal to the bottom of my priorities and my to-do list for months. I have come up with excuses whenever my boss asked me about it. Mind you, she isn't pressuring me, but I am pressuring myself because I promised to do it. For an entire year, I have been dealing with the anxiety generated by the fear to write the blog and the anxiety created from avoiding it. Definitely a no-win situation that I unintentionally created. But that's what happens, isn't it? Things that we do not intend to turn into an issue, or that truly do not warrant being an issue, become one. And it grows - or stagnates - until it take on a life of its own. Often we don't even realize that it is happening.  What do we do then? We can continue to try to avoid it and simply live with the anxiety or uncomfortableness of that, constantly having to maneuver around it, or we can figure out what the real issue is and come up with ways to address it, like I am doing with this blog. For me, this blogging block generated from the fear of people reading what I wrote and judging/critiquing it - and possibly bruising my pride and ego, and from my fear of being out of practice since I haven't written anything in a long time. However, it took me being tired enough of avoiding this to take action. Sometimes, that is hard to do by yourself. If you are tired of living with the anxiety that has been dictating your life, tired of making excuses to avoid certain activities, and are ready to be out from under that control, but aren't sure where to start, reach out to us. We will be honored to work alongside you as you tackle your anxieties, learning where they originate and how to overcome them, and move into a more anxiety-free life. 

Until next time, wishing you peace and contentment-

Leah