Be your own hero.

I am on a self-empowerment kick lately,  readers.

I can’t help myself – the older I get and the more I grow into this person I have become,  the more I recognize the importance of taking control of your life and being there for yourself.   This is not psycho babble crap I am spewing.   It is real and legit and needs to sink into your brain.

I am on Twitter a lot and I am pretty much horrified by the level of negative things people tweet about themselves and the state of their lives.

Do not be one of these people!

I mean,  as I often say,  it is okay to have a weak day here and there and give in to the urge to wallow and be miserable.   But let’s not unpack our bags and live there.

You are a strong, resilient person!

Don’t EVER tell yourself anything different.  

Inside you is everything you need to be independent,  successful,  and at peace.     You don’t need a hero in the form of a man,  or a woman,  or a parent,  or a friend.

All you need is you.

I have written about self-reliance before, but this is about more than self-reliance.

This is taking self-reliance even a step further and focusing on the way you see  yourself…what your role in your own life is.

It’s important that you see yourself as the solver of your problems….the one who somehow,  some way will make everything okay for you.    It is important that you see yourself as strong and competent…tough and resilient….and always able to pick up the pieces of your life,  no matter how tiny they are,  and glue them back together again.

When you look over your life as a whole it is important that you feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when you think of how far you have come and how much you have grown.   I want you to feel wiser due to the struggles you have been through, not like a victim.   I want you to be able to say to yourself:  

“I couldn’t have made it here without ME.”  

If these things don’t apply to you and your life….if you DON’T view yourself this way,   that is a problem – and it is a big contributor to your anxiety disorder.

I am a big believer in affirmations and the very first affirmations I ever practiced years ago,  were from a book about positive thinking and visualization I ordered from one of those “mail in book clubs”. 

Upon arrival,  I thought this was the hokiest book I had ever seen in my life – a bit old-fashioned and I thought the affirmations in it were not really for somebody “like me”,  whatever I thought “like me” was at the time.   But I REALLY wanted to be over my anxiety and I was willing to try anything,  so I stuck with that book and it completely changed my life.    I believe it was the very first affirmation in it that helped me the most and it was  “I am strong and capable.”    If I can ever think of the name of that book I am going to come back and post it, because I know some of you will ask,  but right now my mind is drawing a blank.   I am actually looking forward to finding it again,  and re-reading the affirmations to see how I feel saying them now,   as opposed to when I first said them 20 years ago.

20 years ago,  I did not believe I was strong or capable at all.    

I was the type of person to whom it  never occurred that I ever COULD be strong or capable,  so I felt like a complete fraud when saying this affirmation – but say it I did.   I said it probably 200 times a day,  and I can’t even put into words how much it helped me become who I am today.    Saying those words every day  as well as the other affirmations in the book,  in addition to doing my Anxiety Recovery Steps,  was my version of sowing seeds and to this day I am still reaping the benefits.

You may not feel strong.   You may feel broken and scared and tired.  You may not have the energy or desire to try to attempt any of my 10 recovery steps because your mind just isn’t in a place to handle it right now.

But that one little affirmation that helped me so much?

You can do that.

There is nothing stopping you from telling yourself that you are strong,  you are capable and you ARE your own hero.

You don’t have to believe it.   You just have to say it.

Say it in front of a mirror.  Say it while you are driving.   Doodle it while you are on the phone.    Say it while you are doing laundry.   Say it every day,  throughout the day,  and keep saying it until it sinks in and becomes a part of who you are.   It will happen if you just give it time and consistency.

There is no feeling on Earth quite like that of feeling in charge of your entire life.

It changes everything – and it makes it very difficult for an anxiety disorder to thrive.   It makes you feel powerful and confident and it changes your whole view of the world.   I want every single person reading this to feel that same confidence and faith in themselves that I have –  and it is entirely possible.

It all starts with something as easy as 5 little words:

“I am strong and capable”.

For more reading on this topic,  try The Resilience Factor, available through Amazon.

No worries.   You can handle anything.