Think about the last time you felt judged by someone. Maybe you felt insecure about your appearance or saying the wrong thing in conversation and you felt worried about what that person might think about you. Feeling judged as inadequate ‘lesser than’ or below someone else based on superficial things isn’t a great feeling. I think we can all identify with the emotions associated with how we see ourselves vs how we think the world sees us. When we struggle with anxiety external judgement becomes meaningless because when we are in an extremely anxious state our world shrinks really fast and we cannot devote the energy into the assumed thoughts of other people. Survival is the only goal when anxiety strikes.

I struggled for many years figuring out my anxious self while balancing what others think about me. Little did I know at the time, all the energy I was devoting to the external world was clouding my internal understanding and making mastering myself much more difficult. As a heterosexual man, many of my early years were burdened by misguided rumination…thoughts that I am not as strong as the other boys, girls don’t find me attractive and other insecure distractions. Hell, I didn’t even go to prom because I felt I didn’t fit into that world being a short skinny nerd. As an adult I have learned to reframe my insecurities and the external judgement I perceived, but never received directly. Anxiety put the truth of myself right in front of me and all the years of pain I brought on myself came to the surface demanding to be healed or destroyed.

When you reframe your journey as an anxiety warrior driven to heal and be healed the negativity of the outside world will disappear as fast as the thought in a brain external to yours thinking about you during an anxious moment. I learned quickly when I hit my bottom at 27 years old that external judgement does nothing to help me recover from redline anxiety and panic. The rest of the world might as well not even exist during a panic attack. If I had stayed focused on letting the assumed thoughts of others drive my journey I would have never have recovered from Generalized Anxiety Disorder naturally. As I started focusing more on healing myself I tapped into a truth within my soul that would allow me to understand why it is so important to help others instead of judge them or let them judge you.

Judgement is a negative frequency and will keep you from digging deeper into yourself and your journey as an anxiety warrior. Healing is a supportive and magnetic frequency that will bring you closer to a human understanding of what it means to live a life free from panic and chronic worry. You will find people like me during your journey that will serve as a healer and trail guide, but always remember the responsibility to heal and walk the path is up to you. When I find a person on the path of healing I have a profound respect for what that person is going through. I have the same feeling when I see someone struggling with their anxiety. These feelings transcend judgement for me because I understand the power of both the positive and negative frequencies that a warrior or a sufferer endures. The feeling is like seeing both a sunset and a thunderstorm, in each instance I do not judge the experience but I admire the hidden beauty and power in each of those natural experiences.

My anxiety journey gave me the opportunity to learn about the hidden potential within myself and my destiny to be a healer, coach, brother son and friend to anyone I have the opportunity to embrace life with. Because I overcame my fears I now coach both boys and girls in tennis, have met a ton of amazing people and realized the foundation of healing will always be accessible to me. My journey still has insecurity and fear along the trail, but my gaze is firmly locked on the horizon and not external judgement.

Overcoming anxiety is your journey and your story warrior. People like me will be here to help you along as a guide but you will need to take the steps to judging yourself against yesterday and not what people think about you today, tomorrow or in the future.