When you have challenges like I do. It can be hard to get through the things that can seem hard to you. Sometimes, it feels like you are up against a wall. This happens when doing things that come easily to others. It feels like severe anxiety hits when you need to do what must be done. You know you can do these things because you’ve done them in the past. It has gotten better by recognizing that the feeling is anxiety. I choose not to avoid the situation or be overbearing about something that makes me anxious. I am patient and get through it. Then I know I will be OK.

Many times in the past, I questioned my capabilities. Deep down, I knew I do it. I often avoided things because I was anxious. I believed that I couldn’t do things without giving them a chance. I doubted whether I would be successful. I worried about failing in what I had set my mind to. I also feared taking the step that was required of what I had to do. Eventually, I understood that to keep the things I wanted in my life, I needed to take action. I had to do what was necessary and fulfill the tasks asked of me. This required me to assess my ability rather than avoid tasks, fearing the worst.

I had to move past the feelings and emotions I was experiencing. I needed to be brave and know that I was capable of doing what I needed to do. I understood that what I was feeling was part of experiencing anxiety. I recognized that it is just a part of me too. I had to be open to stepping outside of my comfort zone. I needed to do what was right and asked of me wherever I went. This approach helped me avoid fighting others or causing reactions. It also meant that I believed it was my medication that held me back from doing things. Still, that was not the case. It took taking the tools that I had been taught for a long time and actually putting them into practice.

It took forever to get my anxiety under control. I had to understand that it was what I felt. It was not something I was thinking about a situation that was going to happen. I feared it would make me want to run away. I needed to be brave. I had to be willing to do what was necessary to cope with difficult things. I had to find ways to curtail the anxiety. This helped me face those moments. I felt like running away because I feared things might go wrong. I had to be willing to take a chance and see that things would go just as they had planned.

Over time this became better for me as I found ways to cope in ways that were helpful for me. I had to learn what those tools were. I saw that things were successful for me when I learned to work with things. Instead of always working against them and letting my anxiety win. They say that autistic people fight the toughest when it comes to doing things they want to do. I am no exception to this.