A friend of mine asked her therapist, “What makes you continue to work with people with OCD. Doesn’t it get exhausting?”
“You know why, because these people are some of the most loving, caring, and genuine people I have ever met,” she said. “And that’s why these experiences are so painful to them.”
I have heard that response from another person since then and I love it. I love that these people see through the worries, through the doubts, through the indecision, and through the irrational fears, into the person and into the heart. Because that heart is huge!
It is amazing what happens when you have the therapy, coping skills, and daily work down pat. Your true self shines through brighter than ever! My spontaneous, silly, gregarious ways have definitely been lighting up in my office, out with friends, with family, and meeting strangers! I was always a social person but had this shadow of gloom following me. With a lot of work that shadow gets smaller and smaller as the light shines through. My light-hearted self announces itself and my heart opens up to the world.
2 Excerpts from an article about loving someone with any form of anxiety:
Remember they’re worth fighting for.
It might be hard sometimes. There might be stupid fights of scenarios they’ve created in their own head. But more than anything, they’re worth fighting for. The toughest people usually are. And if you can fight with them through this, it’ll come back to you ten folds.
Once trust is gained they’ll love you unbelievably hard.
While uncompleted to-do lists, plans getting messed up, texts going answered, might overwhelm someone with anxiety, if there is something they are good at it’s love. If there’s something they’re strong in, it’s their ability to show you how much they adore and appreciate you. It might take them a while to trust you but once they do their capacity to love you will fill you in ways, you didn’t know you were empty or even missing something.
This Is How You Love Someone With Anxiety
SEROTONING 