Resilience

Being someone with a colourful past and dealing with anxiety, I am determined to be my most resilient self.

It all started in the magazine section of my previous workplace. This ‘Health & Wellness’ magazine caught my eye; their focus for the month was ‘breathing’. Inside the magazine , the authors explain different mental and emotional inklings we deal with in our day to day lives and how to handle them in a more healthy, productive manner.

While reading this magazine, I started practicing these exercises-before I knew it, I was hooked! I became more and more intrigued with improving my mental and emotional state of being.

After a couple months of gaining the knowledge I’ve been looking for, I now use multiple tactics to help manage both my stress and anxiety.

Now, I typically start my day off with a simple ‘thank you’, whether it's to God or the universe…….I am grateful for everything I have on an economical level and how far I’ve come on a personal level. I continue my morning with self-affirmations and podcasts. While I brush my teeth, shower and get ready for the day, I listen to podcasts that discuss my priorities; self-help, emotional intelligence, women’s health or comedy.

If anything, these podcasts have made me feel normal, like I’ve found my true interests about the world.

Not only did that magazine help me figure out how to organize my thoughts and feelings, it made me realize how expressive I am. To further support this part of my personality, I began using Pinterest; an app I use as a creative and visual outlet for my interests. As well as keeping a journal at hand, I can feel how effective it is to put your mind on paper.

Currently, since I have more time on my hands, to help maintain my physical and emotional confidence, I became more consistent with working out, meditation, and rekindling my love for romance novels and movies.

I basically began falling in love with my old hobbies again. And guess what…? The more time I spent engaging in my fave hobbies and activities, the less time I spent in my head. The less time I spent in my head, the less anxious I felt. The less anxious I felt, the more confident I became.

My anxiety had a hold on me for the longest time, and I didn’t know how to cope with it. Self-reflecting on how my mentality and mood has changed, I am beyond proud of my progress. I remember those days I couldn’t escape my thoughts. I always felt insecure and overwhelmed. I would avoid hanging out with my friends or refrain from any type of relationship. I kept replaying my past experiences in my head, but never allowed myself to let out those emotions. I felt miserable. Trapped. Stuck!

I guess what I’m trying to say is, these are my ways of being active and ensure that I keep moving. The reminder of where I began and where I am now is my daily motivation. Throughout these changes, it has shown me that you should not hold back on who you are. our world is filled with many challenges, but once we are honest with ourselves, we’ll be okay!

All the while, these changes have made me more open and more happy. Now that I know how to take care of myself, I have more energy to take care of my family and be more present. Not only has my social skills with my loved ones improved, our relationships have blossomed into something more meaningful to me. Now I can go to bed knowing I have succeeded at recycling negative energy into positive energy.