Designated Doodler

There is a good chance that you need to hear at least one of these things at this moment or throughout the new year: 1. Stop looking at your anger or anxiety as a wall you keep running into. Instead, look closely at the bricks that make up the wall. Attack the wall one brick at a time and watch the wall disappear. 2. Fear is an illusion. When anxiety strikes, you have to lean into it to get out of it. 3. You are where you need to be. Even if you feel stuck, even if you hate it, even if you don't understand it - stop trying to escape, and start asking yourself what you can learn from this. 4. People who don't have a clear sense of their own identity latch on to others. They turn their insecurity into gossip, their anxiety into manipulation, their inferiority complex into sabotage. Remember that you are a separate organism and that you can choose to either let their toxins in, or keep them out. Don't take on others' baggage before unpacking your own. If you ca...

Growing up with a Dad who has cancer, I think I've always been hyper aware of how precious life is. And it concerns me, how in this day and age, it seems like everyone is just out for themselves. Or just out for themselves and their family…when there are people all around us who are struggling, who are hungry, who are lonely. Having experienced anxiety in my life, I try my best to tune in to those around me, even if I barely know them. You'd be surprised how many people are out there…just longing for a friend, just longing for a shoulder, for a truthful, reliable, beautiful soul to care about theirs. At one point in college I was so lonely that I'd get out of the apartment and hang out at Starbucks, just so that I could be around other people. I had plenty of friends, but that doesn't mean that you can't still be lonely. I have no idea where this post is coming from. I didn't necessarily set out to write what I've written… I just feel that it...

Your City Most of us live in towns or cities, and whether we like where we live or not, it's important to be a prayer warrior for your city. So often we get wrapped up in prayers that involve us, or our families, or far off places that have a crushing need to be prayed for. And all of this is great! Pray for your family, pray for places like Egypt and the unreached people groups of Indonesia! It's also important however, to be a prayer warrior for your city! I live in a huge metropolitan city that is filled with people struggling with their faith, their health, their job, their life! Lift up your city in prayer, along with all of it's hospitals, schools, roadways, etc. Prayer is a very powerful thing, and when you lift these requests up to God to protect your city and help it prosper, those prayers don't go unheard! It's time that communities reach out to their city and assist in any way possible. Volunteering your time, money and/or prayers can g...

I felt inspired to write this post today to help anyone out there who knows/is friends with/is a parent of someone with anxiety. I realized today that these things I know aren't just common sense. They've come from years of dealing with anxiety myself and knowing others who have as well. So here it goes. Things to keep in mind about anxiety: Anxiety isn't as easy to control as you might think I've had people ask me in the past "well, why don't you just stop being anxious." To me, that's like asking someone who has chronic migraines to stop having migraines. What's important is to realize that anxiety is very much a physical thing. It is a response that your body has, when once started, is difficult to control or stop. An anxious person may have a racing heartbeat, sweaty hands, dry mouth, or even shake. Once the body begins this descent into anxiety it's hard to turn around. And even if the anxiety isn't yet to that point or severi...

Anxiety is more common than you may think. It is a nuisance that can alter how you live your life; it's annoying. And I've learned a few things about it that I thought I'd share with you. Survival of the Anxious A lot of people have a natural disposition towards anxiety. And guess what...it's what helped us survive! Back in the caveman days your carefree buddy would lay outside looking at the stars while you worried about lions. He'd get eaten, and you'd carry on your family line. A lot of times, we are hyper-observant of not only ourselves but our environment as well. So stop thinking of anxiety as a plague and start thinking of it as an advantage.  Is That all You've Got? Many times, people get caught in a loop of anxiety because they are afraid of anxiety itself! It is such an uncomfortable thing (sweaty palms, obsessive thoughts, racing heart, imagining the worst) so we naturally want to avoid it at all costs! But then we can become worried abo...

Tomorrow is Wednesday It's the day I've been waiting for Maybe even praying for I check my email And check my phone And I hope you know That I'm still home Maybe I'll get an answer Or catch word I can't believe I still haven't heard Anticipation itches my ribs And weighs on my shoulders It claws and it digs and it sits in my stomach and smolders A fear of failure That is only rivaled by A fear of success It's mildly ridiculous I must confess So I sit and wait For the phone to ring I anticipate Absolutely nothing And absolutely everything.