Self Love and Sharing Yourself

Hello Friends!

I promised you yesterday some wonderful tips on dealing with mental illness, and today, I'm going to be one hundred percent certain to give them to you. This is something I've been wanting to talk about for a while now, and I have the perfect opportunity to share it. I'll let you know more in a little bit. For now, just read on.

That shirt is what I wore today. I call it my butterfly shirt, because it's so big and bright and, when I stick my arms inside, it feels like I could fly from all the extra fabric. That black cuff is my daily "piece de resistence", or the most important thing I wear in the run of a day (forgive me for not including the accent things, I can't figure out how to do that!) As well, though you can't see them, I wear a pair of cowboy boots. I live in a city, so I stand out like a sore thumb.

My point is that I wear what makes me happy. I love my leather cuff, and my boots. My shirt is beautiful to me, and when I wear it, my confidence peaks. When you are comfortable with yourself, you can't help but exude a kind of flare that leaves people begging for your attention. And part of that relaxation comes from admitting who you are to the world.

Your mental illness is who you are. Its part of what makes you, well, YOU. Without that obstacle in your life, you wouldn't have done so many things, or met so many people. But in order to be truly okay with it, you need to talk about, especially if you haven't yet. Sharing your feelings, whether you're male or female, is the most important step in conquering your mental disorder, but it's hard, and I understand that.

If you need some help, start by talking to somebody online, or somebody that you trust a lot. That way, you know that the person wouldn't a) Ever share that information with anybody else because b) They don't have anybody that knows you well enough that their finding out about your mental illness would be detrimental. 

You can always be yourself, and always let your true colors shine. And now, here is the perfect opportunity to take that giant leap forward. A woman by the name of Amy Morby (I've never spoken with her, or seen her before) has started a revolution. This woman is a recovering anorexic, a mental illness that can have horrible results on your life, and is starting something in the month of February called "Self Love Month". You can click on the badge below to go to her website and sign the declaration of self love to commit to what she's doing.

 

You don't have to be anybody else but you. Embrace yourself and sign the declaration. My own personal challenge to you is to tell somebody about your mental illness. One person. I believe in you.

Your Insanely Sappy, Cheesy, But Well Meaning Friend,

Elizabeth 

P.S. I have a twitter now! You can follow me HERE!

Don't Be Mad...

I'm really sorry to everybody that reads this blog for help with their anxiety. I haven't really gotten around to posting an honest to goodness blog post about anxiety in a little while, so that's why I'm saying SCREW introductions! I'm going to jump right into what I have to say.

Anxiety is a pretty hefty mental illness and from what I can tell, it isn't mentioned as much as other mental illnesses. Only 1 in 10 people suffer from this, which is only 10%, for those of you that don't like Math. So for you newcomers, that's what I'm talking about when I say "What do I do when I wake up in a panic?" (Panic is short form for "panic attack" or "anxiety attack", by the way).

Trust me when I say that I've dealt with that on MANY occasions. Mostly it's because I've woken up from a nightmare, or I've woken up and then fallen into a panic when really, all I want is to fall into sleep. I'll always be the first to tell you when something is hard for me, and this topic is VERY difficult for me to do.

When I wake up in a panic, I take what seems to me like a cowardly path. I turn on my television and fall asleep to that, or read a book until my eyes can't stay open anymore. I wish I knew better what would work for me, so I can deal with it on my own, but unfortunately, I can't find anything that works for me, because, if you've never dealt with a panic before, these thoughts are taunting.

Here's what I know you're SUPPOSED to do. I may or may not have mentioned before that, when I was younger, I went to group therapy for support in my journey with anxiety. I kept the workbook for that close and near to me, just in case I needed it. It doesn't exactly work for me very well now, but it could work for you if you need it to.

Chances are, people that don't understand anxiety will tell you that your fears are just that: fears. They might've said you'll get over them, or that you need to take things less seriously. As you and I both know, that's much easier said than done. What I want you to do next time you've started to panic is this. 

1. Take a deep breath and rate your fear on a scale from 1-10.
2. Think about your fear and think about the reasons your feeling this way. What happened? What could happen? Why isn't this very likely?
3. Take all your answers and create a more realistic thought. Focus on that and re-rate your fear on the same 1-10 scale. Has this process brought your fear down?

Practice this, make sure that you write this down somewhere if you think you'll need it. This isn't my process, it actually belongs to the Cool Kids program that I think originated in Europe, because it all sounds very British, but that's not important. What's important is results.

Anxiety is a nasty hobknocker (I'm trying to be British here), but you can defeat it. Believe in yourself, believe in your strengths and have confidence that everything will be fine. As one of my favourite bloggers, Kandee Johnson, says:

"You are more beautiful than you know, more talented than you think, and more loved than you can imagine!"

And though you may not think that has anything to do with this now very cheesy post, it does. Because confidence, love and overall strength is what beats anxiety everyday.

Your Sappy Friend,
Elizabeth