• Sarah Lyall-Neal PsyD

Is your anxiety holding you back?

Updated: Nov 11, 2020

Do you have a dream that feels like it's just out of reach? Maybe you don't feel like you have what it takes to achieve your goal? Maybe you feel that others will judge or ridicule you if you attempt to step outside your normal routine and reach for more? Maybe you fear failure? Sound familiar?

If you find yourself identifying with the questions above, know you are in good company. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses and called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, his response was:

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11

Moses himself essentially said "Who me? Why?

He didn't see himself as someone who had what it would take to lead thousands of people on a multiyear journey. If you continue reading in Exodus, you will find that God reassures Moses more than once that he is, in fact, perfect for the job. But Moses still asks to be released from the job before finally giving in to God's will and faithfully carrying out the task.

The lies anxiety will tell you

"You are not good enough."

"You are not pretty enough."

"You are not wealthy enough."

"You are not smart enough."

I could go on and on but you get my drift. Anxiety doesn't just automatically occur, its developed slowly over time. We live in a society that constantly pushes us to be more, do more, and have more. We are bombarded with images on classic media and social media showing people with picture perfect lives, lives that are virtually unattainable. We see the highlight reels for other people's lives on a daily basis. These images are toxic.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is known as one of the best basketball players of all time, but he was cut from his high school basketball team. Further, he has been quoted as saying:


What would have happened if Michael Jordan had quit basketball back when he was cut from his high school team? What if he had simply walked away, gave in to fear and anxiety, and left basketball behind? Look at the life and career he would have lost.

Let's go back to Moses for a minute, what if his faith hadn't been strong enough and he had ultimately refused to obey God. I can't even imagine what he would have been giving up.

What is your anxiety holding you back from?

Anxiety can hold us back from the big things and the little things. What would you do if you didn't have to worry about anxiety? What could you accomplish? Is it worth enduring the pain of anxiety to push through and achieve your goals?

Taking action

A few weeks ago I shared a post with you on CBT and your faith, essentially explaining how to change your thoughts to change your life, utilizing faith based principles. Take a moment to review the post and start to look for your self-defeating negative thoughts, once you find them, actively work to change them to faith based self-affirming thoughts.

Failure is part of the success process

It's no secret that the most successful people in the world have faced adversity and failure along the way. This article provides a comprehensive list of successful people and the failures they persevered through. Although failure is never fun, misery does love company. The only reason we know the people in this article, is because they didn't give up or give in to their anxiety. They kept fighting!

What does the bible have to say about anxiety?

Quite a bit actually, but for today's post we are going to focus on Hebrews 13:5-6. It says,

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So, we say with confidence,“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

That’s pretty strong language don’t you think. God is saying he will be our help and he is all powerful and we need not worry about what other people will say or think. I don't know about you but that makes me feel a lot better.

Start today:

Try a new recipe.

Start writing that story/book you have been putting off.

Ask for a raise.

Start that business you have only dreamed about.

Ask him or her for a date (the worst they can say is no).

Take a step out in fear, embrace the anxiety and challenge it....Overcome it!

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