Do you feel that these hardships have made you better

[Lord Jazzinho]

Am I the only on who feels that I am a better person for having endured all of this. Being a social phobic has taught me a lot about myself, life and how people are in general, it gave me the time to pursue many interests and acquire some skills and also the ability to really think about things and form opinions that are genuinely my own as well as teaching me how to see things from other peoples point of view, It taught me that all situations and people are shades of grey and only choices are black and white. It also made me mentally strong and showed me that you can find positives in just about any situation. I don't know who said it or how to attach it to my posts but its damn true "This too shall pass".

[Dahila]

Am I the only on who feels that I am a better person for having endured all of this. Being a social phobic has taught me a lot about myself, life and how people are in general, it gave me the time to pursue many interests and acquire some skills and also the ability to really think about things and form opinions that are genuinely my own as well as teaching me how to see things from other peoples point of view, It taught me that all situations and people are shades of grey and only choices are black and white. It also made me mentally strong and showed me that you can find positives in just about any situation. I don't know who said it or how to attach it to my posts but its damn true "This too shall pass".

I would love to live without it, and its lesson... I lost too much because of anxiety, friends, contact with family or children...My hobbies count for nothing when it comes to family....

[Lord Jazzinho]

well again I don't know who said it but "when you stop learning you are dead" it may not give much comfort but it is true. I have been through social phobia, poverty, I have lived around other peoples mental illness and alcoholism and I am currently on dialysis and I am only 32. Now all that was and is shit but it would be shit and a waste if I took nothing positive from it.

[AmberGbenga]

I have alot to say about this, but I'm off to work. Will reply as soon as I can :)

[NeverToo...Fear]

I've had other hardships in my life in the past that was not anxiety, but they were hardships nonetheless. At first I was so bitter and angry that I had to go through those hardships, but then I took on an attitude of embracing what I had. And it made a dramatic difference plus taught me so many things about other people and myself. Looking back, I would do it over again, because it has really made me the person I am today. A better, stronger person.

Now I try to see anxiety that way. Another hardship creating more hardships. But it's just another thing to challenge me to be a better person. There's always room for improvement. Even before I had serious anxiety, I always worried and freaked out more than necessary. No one likes the panicky person in the movie that can't handle anything. And that was me. Anxiety has personally taught me to keep a more level head so that I can deal with stressful situations. Anxiety has made me realize that not everything is a worse case scenario. In a sense, it's your worst enemy, but also your best teacher.. if that makes sense!

I'm not saying we all need anxiety to become better versions of ourselves. It was more like an extreme push, or as Dahila puts in her sig, "A cry for oneself to regain inner peace" I'm sure many of us would rather not have it than have it, because in the beginning it robs us of so much. But if we are trying to be positive, in the end, when you are still alive, it simply has to change us for the better even if we don't always see it at first.

[Lord Jazzinho]

NeverToo...Fear "Through adversity comes strength" I'm on a roll now cos I don't know who said that either but thats exactly what I mean If I hadn't of had these hardships I would be a completely different person who wished I was the person that I am. I would say also that I know some people (not here) who could do with a dose of real hardship in there lives. "The Enemy of anxiety is perspective" (and I'm having that one lol) I think this way of combatting anxiety is one of the hardest but the one thing I'm sure of is that you have to be able to say and mean "I don't know whats going to happen, that is out of my control and I cannot be prepared for it so what ever life throws at me in the future I will deal with at the time and not waste any more time worrying about it. I took me 12 years to get to that point but anxiety is like a house of cards, when you dislodge one of the cards its not long before the whole house falls down.

[Lord Jazzinho]

AmberGbenga Looking forward to reading it :)