Stop Missing Out on Life Experiences because of Anxiety

I am writing this from the back seat of a car, returning from a trip for the new year. I was initially planning on writing a post on the way there but as you know the universe hates me. So I of course threw up all over the place because of my nerves. Having to try to explain that to my friends parents was fun. But after that embarrassing moment I decided to just throw in the towel and admit defeat.

So here we are on our way home and I’m pumped full of Dramamine and I’m ready to go. Ok so for today I want to be more positive because it is after all a new year. Now if you read my post “a Fun Trip to Some is a Nightmare for me” then you would know that I was a mess before going on this trip. I was so nervous about going on this trip that I felt the need to write a whole post about it. But I guess that would make sense since mental health is what I talk about…

This trip pulled a uno reverse card on me because once I did get there most of my anxiety was gone. And by most I mean the kind preventing me from going out and actually doing things. I still had my usual daily anxieties but you know what… a win is a win. I really thought that I would be wanting to go home the entire time or I wouldn’t be able to stay out as long as everyone else. I actually wanted to stay out longer which is not a feeling I am used too, so I just rolled with it. Highly recommend if your someone like me who suffers from severe social anxiety to just go with it and not question your emotions too much (but I would also like to reiterate that I am not a medical professional by any means, this is just my personal experience and what has been working for me).

But the moral of this story / post is to not let your social anxiety win. As I have said many times before, I run away from my problems and actually coming head to head with them is the last thing I want to do. But after this trip I learned that if you surround yourself with people who do understand you and your anxiety and what can trigger it or what an anxiety attack looks like for you, you might actually have a good time. I had asked my friend to show me a written plan of the weekend with times and what to wear as a way to ease my anxiety. This friend thankfully understood why I needed that and wasn’t weird when I had asked for it. There has definitely been times where I have been with a group of people that I would never reveal my mental health too, so I would just stay silent and suffer through the night. I may seem ok on the surface but I am losing my mind so don’t worry. So after one too many experiences like that I have decided to surround myself with people who I first of all feel comfortable around, and comfortable enough she share some things about my mental health. Having people around you who have lived the same things as you is very beneficial to overcoming your anxieties and growing.

I almost ran away from my problem but I decided to stick it out and try to work through it. I am happy that I did that too because I had so much fun on that trip (yes the beginning was a bit rough but we got there) I had such a good time that the time flew by instead of me counting down the seconds until I got to go home. So my recommendation to you is to surround yourself with people who make you feel safe, the last thing you want when you are in a situation and your anxious is to have the person next to you not give a shit about you and your minor inconvenience. I always tell people that my friend is like my shield and you know what … that’s ok. So stop missing out on life experience’s because your social anxiety. I am not saying you need to stop running away all the time, but just once in a while try it out, you might be surprised with the results.