You Are Good Enough

Hey there! It's been a while! Life has been extra chaotic this past month and I got caught up in the whirlwind. But, I am back and happy to be consistently writing again. And, this is just a heads up, but this edition is less about writing tips and more about how to keep going with your writing.

As I said before, life has been sending wave after wave crashing into me and I have had to fight just to tread water. My chronic illnesses have flared up thanks to the other stressors that came up and I have spent the last month or so just trying to get back to basic functioning. In that time, I agonized over not being able to write. My brain fog and fatigue were so intense that my writing skills seemed to be non-existent. While all of this was happening, it was summer vacation for my kids, so I have been trying to do things to keep them entertained as well.

The other day my family went to see Inside Out 2 in theaters. The first movie is my son's favorite movie made by Disney and Pixar combined, so we had to see the sequel. And, let me just say that going to a movie about emotions, specifically anxiety, right after trauma processing in therapy might not have been the best idea. But, this is your spoiler alert. I will be discussing major plot points in Inside Out 2, so don't read if you don't want to know what happens in the film

When Anxiety takes over Riley's mind and boots the other emotions out, I began to see myself in Riley. Her sense of self becomes eroded by anxious and intrusive thoughts. The anxious thoughts become beliefs and then her sense of self as a whole is summed up in the phrase: "I'm not good enough." The voice in Riley's mind echoes this phrase, louder and louder, causing her to become more desperate to prove herself. In her desperation, Riley makes foolish choices and mistakes which only fuel the belief that she isn't good enough.

While watching this film, I was reminded of thirteen-year-old Chelsea. A perfectionist who always felt that she had to prove herself. She also believed that she wasn't good enough, and that she would never be good enough. Sadly, this little Chelsea would go years and years thinking this way. It would taker her a very long time to learn how to manage her anxious thoughts.

At the moment when Riley is having a panic attack in the film, I realized that I have not been managing my anxiety lately. I have let Anxiety take over my mind. I recognized the thoughts of "I will never make it as a writer" and "My health will always keep me from achieving my writing dreams" as Anxiety speaking. Once I acknowledged that these were anxious thoughts, my mind became clearer and I could feel my other emotions chiming in. They gave me hope for my future.

Yes, this past month has been rough and I had to step away from my writing business for a while. And yes, it may be necessary to work my way back up from square one. But as long as I continue on and do my best, I know that things will work out. No matter how many times I have to pick myself up, dust myself off, shake off the fatigue, and start from scratch, I will do so knowing that I am a good writer. I can make my dream job work.

That is my message to you as well. You can do this. Even if you have setbacks or rejections, do not let the anxious thoughts win. You are good enough. Put yourself out there, no matter how terrifying it is, and I promise that you will see that you can make your writing dreams come true as well. Challenge any beliefs that make you hesitate. Your writing is good, and so are you.