I’m excited to share my latest piece “How Anxiety Affects My Parenting” to be posted on the website The Mighty. This website is a rich resource of first-hand stories from people who suffer from mental health and medical disorders. I am proud to be a part of this community. Please take a moment to read my recent article. If you know even one person who may find it interesting, please share it. And if you desire, click the heart icon on my article page. The more support it finds amongst the readership, the more it will be shared.
Every time I write, I hope to reach someone. Someone I know, or don’t. Someone who shares my struggles, or not. Someone who understands raising a child with a disability, having a child in the NICU, losing a baby late in pregnancy, suffering miscarriages and recurrent pregnancy loss, and fighting battles with anxiety.
Every time I write, I find I have done what I set out to do. Mothers comment on my posts. Fathers send me Facebook messages. Colleagues stop me in the hallway. Friends and family reach out to say they appreciate all that I share. Through all the compliments on my writing–which I do thoroughly enjoy–my soul sings loudest to know that someone else found solace in my words.
We all have struggles. No one walks through life unscathed. Death, grief, disappointments, health issues, relationship problems–it’s all there. Over time, I have learned how to navigate my difficulties with a grace I didn’t know I had. Grief has become a beautiful thing. Anxiety–while aggravating and enormously uncomfortable– has encouraged me to take directions in my life I may have otherwise ignored.
I have also learned that I am never alone in my struggles. If I feel it, so, too, has someone else. There are over seven billion of us, after all, and to assume we are alone in our troubles is spending too much egocentric time with ourselves. If you struggle with sadness, depression, anxiety, medical disorders, loss, crushing grief–others have too. And you will not be the last.
Lately, I have been writing more about my relationship with anxiety. It’s a love/hate thing, really. It’s a part of me: my temperament, my thought process, my inner voice and my inner being. I have always felt its presence, so without it, I wouldn’t quite be me. Those who know me would wonder what happened to my personality if anxiety were to suddenly pack a bag and move out.
At times, it battles hard against the peace I desire to have in my life. But I fight back with exercise, meditation, a healthy diet, pausing for gratitude, and surrounding myself with as many positive things in my life as I can possibly find.
My anxiety also takes a beating when I write, share, and connect with others. There are a lot of us. More than we think. And not feeling alone in our thoughts can be the first step to finding a more peaceful life. Anxiety makes me feel crazy, but sharing my crazy helps me find my place in the world.
Let’s work together to make a network of support.
How Anxiety Affects My Parenting Published by The Mighty
To keep up-to-date with my blog posts, articles, and more, please visit me on Facebook at Laura Gaddis-Writer and Twitter at Sophia_Story
Laura Gaddis 