X in the Middle

anx·i·e·ty

aNGˈzīədē/

noun

1. a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.
2. 
   

   "he felt a surge of anxiety"

   synonyms:

   worry, concern, apprehension, apprehensiveness, uneasiness, unease, fearfulness, fear, disquiet, disquietude, inquietude, perturbation, agitation, angst, misgiving, nervousness, nerves, tension, tenseness; More

   • desire to do something, typically accompanied by unease.

     
     

     "the housekeeper's eager anxiety to please"

     synonyms:

     eagerness, keenness, desire "an anxiety to please"

   • PSYCHIATRY

     a nervous disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness and apprehension, typically with compulsive behavior or panic attacks.
   • 
     
   • Well now, this is a word that is thrown around like Iphones in a local high school.  Everybody has it and it's no big deal...unless you really DO have it.
   • 
     
   • This funky word with an x in the middle can be completely debilitating.  Think about the worst stress you have ever been under in your entire life.  Think about how your body physically felt.  Now extend that feeling over days, weeks, months at a time.  Your body is on high alert, overdosing on adrenaline, and ready to defend itself against the most serious of threats to it's well-being.  Now combine this with almost no sleep due to your high alert status and your brain being in overdrive with worry.  (Two of the worst things you can do, long term, to your body are stress and sleep deprivation.)  Now add to this everyone you know telling you not to worry about it or it's no big deal or just relax.  Now add people you thought were your friends, tearing you down publicly and add a highly demanding job.  Now add physical ailments/illness that pop up because your body can't take the long term physical toll.  Now add well meaning people telling you it's all in your head...being physically ill is all in your head.  And of course, add the people who tell you to just get over it.
   • 
     

   I am here to tell you...it's definitely not that simple.  What starts out as a little bit of stress turns into a mountain of a problem as more and more and more things are dumped onto an already strained system.  If our car were under this much stress, every single light on the dash would be flashing, the engine would sound like it was about to self destruct, and there would probably be smoke billowing out the back.  We're all smart enough to turn off the engine, give it a rest, call for a ride, and tow that car to the mechanic.  And we sure wouldn't continue to drive it until it was mended....why?  because we don't want to permanently damage the engine!  So why do we do this to ourselves or watch others do it to themselves and not think twice about it?  Some people even seem to enjoy watching others somehow self destruct in a breakdown of one sort or another.

Be sensitive, be kind, remind yourself that you may not know everything a person is dealing with under the surface.  Maybe they are doing the very best they can with the world around them.  Maybe there is no one else that has taken a moment to care.  Maybe you could be the one person who says "hey, you need to take care of you...I see you giving this life everything you've got, but even heroes need to breathe and rest and heal..."