It’s time to put limiting stories aside and ask for more; of yourself and society. These are the inspiring words of professor Alexander Carter. But such words have been the motivation of my family even before I knew the professor. My grandparents have ensured that we have a comfortable living space in Pakistan. The lush green mountains, the subtle sweetness in the air, touch of breeze, birds chirping, a huge park, rugged roads, walking to the shops. You name it and we have it all. As I sit in the apartment building of the most elite sectors in Islamabad, I realized how blessed I am to follow the footsteps of my mother and enter college despite the difficulties and challenges. There is always this strange sense of loneliness and struggle. I don’t know if I should call it loneliness because feeling lonely is not new to me. As a child, I used to withdraw  and run around my fantasy world. That fantasy world has turned into reality as I enter a new phase of my life. This new phase triggers a sense of anxiety as I try to explore options for the bachelor’s program. I am not scared at all. Anxiety is necessary. It is a sense of accomplishment and growth. I know being comfortable might be satisfactory but trust me wanting better is beyond satisfaction. 

How I overcame anxiety?

Everyday I talked about not giving energy to worrying thoughts. Basically saying “NO”. to them. “Enough is enough” This is the internal dialogue I have with myself. I worried enough in my life. Now it’s time for solutions, for action, and self improvement. Worrying thoughts drastically narrow down one’s spectrum of perception and can easily immobilize the whole body system. Worrying is a type of stress we agree to give ourselves. It influences reaction time, clear thinking, mode, emotional state and ability to find real effective solutions. From a nutritional point of view, it drastically decreases the self healing abilities of the body by cutting down the production of new cells, decreases metabolic power by stopping production of enzymes and hormones, and decreases oxygen uptake. It decreases our ability to feel pleasure with food. self healing abilities of the body by cutting down the production of new cells. You can help yourself by visualizing your worries as clouds take over your mind and the simple act of blowing clouds away will be effective. It is work in progress. Habits get stronger like muscles just by exercise.