Have you ever experienced a consistent feeling of unease around certain people or situations?
For me, it was a certain social gathering that had the same core group of people. It was a holiday, a birthday, a Super Bowlโฆ that I consistently dreaded.
AND I felt obligated to attend because it was familyโฆ
It wasn’t until later that I realized that this uneasiness was actually acute, low-grade anxiety.
This anxiety was the result of toxic family relationships that had been normalized over the years.
After all, family is the sea we swim in. It can be difficult to see dysfunction when it is our โnormal.โ
The overwhelming anxiety I experienced during these gatherings was a symptom of deeper emotional wounds caused by these relationships.
๐นI felt uneasy
๐นI felt unusually self-conscious
๐นI left feeling drained and emotionally depleted
๐นI was frequently unable to sleep after gatherings
I lived like this for years, no, decades.
It wasn’t until I became increasingly aware of my discomfort, uneasiness, and not-so-low grade anxiety that I began to make different decisions. Decisions that would empower me and help me break free from toxic family relationships.
I began to observe my thoughts and emotions around these gatherings. I identified the story I attached to myself, the people and events.
By doing so, I was able to identify howโฆ..
M๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก.
Awareness empowered me to make decisions that allowed me to do better in these scenarios.
Some of the decisions I made included;
๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ญ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ
๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ
๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฆ๐
๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐จ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ
๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐ฅl! โบ๏ธ
Through these decisions,
๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ฏ๐จ๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ.
As I began to understand the deeper childhood wounds that caused anxiety, I was able to go to a deeper level of healing.
So much of therapy is hinged on how we relate to ourselves and how we relate to others.
In the case of toxic family relationships, the stories we tell ourselves may include a sense of obligation or duty, despite the negative impact on our mental and emotional well-being.
It is crucial to recognize these stories and actively work to rewrite them.
Awareness helps us identify our thoughts and emotions, and it is essential to observe how we relate to ourselves in these scenarios.
We must recognize the impact of toxic relationships on our mental and emotional health and make empowering decisions to prioritize our well-being.
By identifying toxic relationships, we can take steps to set boundaries and make decisions that prioritize our mental and emotional well-being.
Through awareness and active decision-making, we can break free from the cycle of toxic relationships and start living our lives to the fullest.
๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐.
If you feel stuck in overwhelm and anxiety, or just need to get some solid ideas about how to lay boundaries with toxic people, schedule a complimentary discovery call
Call or text for a free consultation at (813) 540-6468.
Sending you LOVE and LIGHT ๐๐ผ๐
