As a parent with a child with Anxiety it was so easy to mirror that emotion.
His anxiety would give me anxiety.
I didn't even have anxiety to start with.
He would come to me with his worry and anxieties or I would see it play out within him and I would start to be anxious about him getting anxious.
I would try to avoid things so that he wouldn't get anxious.
I would try and cushion things so he wouldn't get anxious.
I would try and protect him any way I could.
It was exhausting.
I was having so much of my own anxiety about it all.
Once I realized it was not helping anyone I could take a step back and be a little bit better about it all.
It took time.
I started to see that it was ok that he felt anxiety.
We got him some coaching so that he could see that feeling anxiety is OK.
Then he took a big step on his own. He went on a mission for our church. AND I decided to not be anxious about it.
I decided I would be happy with whatever he was able to do and however he was able to serve.
I decided to not worry about whether he was being anxious or whether he was going to come home early.
AND it was amazing. I enjoyed every minute of his mission.
Sure I missed him. But I loved that I could miss him and he could do this for himself. AND he killed it out there.
He was teaching strangers and training new missionaries and stepping up into leadership. He has changed his life because he decided he could do it. We both did it.
I am so proud of this boy and all he was able to do. Without me having anxiety about his anxiety.
If this sounds like you and your teenager or young adult and you would like them to learn the tools so they can be fine feeling anxiety and still be able to do hard things, Click the link below to book a free consultation with me.
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