If you need help with anxiety

Originally appeared online in the teen series UpFront -  May 2, 2023

Anxiety used to hit me like a wave. One moment I was OK, the next I felt like I was drowning. Sometimes the thoughts were specific; sometimes it was just a crushing weight of anxious feelings. All of it was awful.

I’ve heard from so many of you that even if your situation looks different, anxiety is something you’re concerned about for your friends or are dealing with yourself. That’s why I want to share my own healing of anxiety, because we can do more than just manage this problem. Healing is possible because of who we are.

Anxiety would try to tell us one story about who we are: that we’re at the mercy of our thoughts and feelings. That they can barge in, batter us, and we’re helpless to do anything about it. That’s the way I used to feel. But one day, during one of these anxious episodes, a thought broke through that I knew was from God. 

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