Greetings, dearest Captain Hook!
I was wondering how you deal with anxiety? I suffer from anxiety myself and have trouble getting past it and usually belittle myself to cope.
I hope you are doing well. *hugs him*
He frowned at the use of the word 'hugs him' as an action in letters but summed it up to a foreign - possibly American - literary education. Lacking in a proper upbringing, those colonials did.
Regardless, he was touched by the plight of the writer, and despite his own sullen slump he had found strength enough to write back to them.
Picking up his quill, he began -
I can't attest to have defeated the demon of Anxiety in my day. A foul spirit that has haunted us like Death and Pain. In truth, much like Loneliness, Anxiety is something we all share as humans. Whether black, white, Jew or Gentile, the condition of Human is in itself a stressful one.
First remark upon yourself that you are in good company - from the earliest days of rock and fire to the advanced age of sail and steam we are now all humans have struggled with Anxiety. You are not alone nor unique in your condition.
In this I find it helpful to engage with others who regard your nature as good and uplifting to be around. Often Anxiety thrives in loneliness, much as mold does in the wet dark, so if you have company to keep it is good to do so.
For some however this will not suit well - whether by nature you are introverted or by environment isolated by one's repressive culture, reputation, or tyranny of some other sort. It is hardest to rely upon one's soul for comfort when one's being is what is considered an anathema to them.
I myself struggle with this, as it is an unfortunate fact that Neverland breeds fools like an unkept garden breeds weeds.
In this we must regard the ever-present nature of Anxiety - if all have it, then it must serve some good for it to be present in our consistent design. In fact, we could regard that it's the Mind's attempt to take care of your Body and Soul in a world that can oft-times be hostile to our needs whether by the action of Nature, Beast, or Man.
In this, thank your Anxiety. It is - in fact - part of you that cares for yourself, much like your skin holds your body together or your tendons and ligaments bind your bones and flesh.
In this remark that if all humans share Anxiety, and Anxiety serves some good, then consider that Anxiety is much like Pain - to experience it is to not to be acting in some wrong fashion, but to be in fact quite normal in all regards. In the end Anxiety and Pain are like Gravity - ever present, and part of the process of life.
If all this does not bring comfort you now or ever, then that is understandable. The journey of life is a course uncharted by you until now, and so much like a captain with no map you are navigating it without knowledge.
In this I implore you to consider your higher nature - you are most likely possessing faculties and abilities that are either currently beneficial or capable of being sharpened so as to be of improved use of you in the future.
Your story is not yet done, and what your Mind says in its darkest moments is not - in fact - fact. The matter of your life is that you are still writing it, and if there are narratives to be unwritten in your own mind so you can write new, beautiful chapters that is in fact quite common and beautifully true for all of us.
Consider the tales of those who live now or have come before you. Perhaps establish a role model for yourself and see that a very normal human in fact changed not only their lives but their very view of themselves and use that to keep your light in the darkness.
In the end, I simply will say this - You are not your thoughts, but your actions. Stop and be present in the journey that is your life and hold fast to your virtues and divine muses that call you ever to distant shores and horizons.
Yours in Anxious Humanity,
