Anxiety says you are weak. You cannot overcome this gargantuan problem. A little voice inside your head says this is not true. Anxiety screams you are powerless. Everything is going wrong and it will only get worse. A tiny whisper in your mind says no that is not so. Anxiety bellows who you think you are, get a grip, you cannot help yourself or anyone else. There are only catastrophes in store for you. Forever. A quiet voice in your heart says you are stronger than you think. Panic joins in and raises your blood pressure, makes your heart hammer, you break out in a frigid sweat and are on the verge of screaming that you give up, you cannot do this any more, you just want to lie down and fall asleep forever. A soft voice in your gut says you can do this, you can handle it, just like you have handled 100’s of unthinkable things or not so unthinkable things. Panic and anxiety all but stop your heart, they all but cut off your oxygen, your arms and legs feel as if they are made of lead, your throat is dry,  your mouth has cotton in it, how do you survive this. This time you are done, there’s no help, no flailing your arms as you drown in a sea of terror. Then you hear it, the softest whisoer, the sweetest sound, it’s the love you have given and received all your life long, it is all the positive thoughts you have ever thought in your life, it is gratitude for your life, it is the knowing you are enough, you are strong enough, intelligent enough to, resourceful enough, just enough. You listen to all the quiet voices. They get marginally louder. You listen harder, you cling to these for dear life. You promise yourself that these voices are true and you will listen to them and heed them. You promise yourself anxiety and panic will not win. Even if you need Ativan every now and then, no shame in that, for the first time in months, you have hope. You can do this.