An Interior View

What does an anxiety attack look like? Can you feel it...taste it...reach out and touch it?

Have you ever watched a tornado run its course? It's hit or miss. As it pummels through a neighborhood it can hit three houses in a row, skip the next, and hit another all on the same side of the street. The funnel is dark and mysterious. Sometimes it picks up speed and persists. Other times the sky above summons her home and she vanishes into thin air. Occasionally she returns but is silent. The next victim isn't quite aware of her presence until she's right on top of him and sucks the life right out from the bottom up.

That's anxiety. It arrives without notice and has no desire to share why it's there. Sometimes the feeling of excitement is in the air. Kind of like when you're waiting on the mailman because that package is expected only it doesn't come today. Fear is instilled because you're waiting for something to happen, maybe to you or a family member. You have no idea what is going to happen but something's coming. Any time now... Sometimes when anxiety checks in at the front desk it's a mixture of emotions that settles in. Excitement, fear, panic, impaired thinking, racing thoughts.

You're trapped.

It corners you.

It takes your breath away.

And there's not a whole lot you can do to stop it.

Because in that very moment, strategies are out of your reach even on tippy toes.

So you give in.

And anxiety is a taker.

Every time the anxiety returns a little piece of you leaves with it.

And you feel smaller and smaller with each visit.

That's what anxiety is like.