Attacking Anxiety: From Panicked and Depressed to Alive and Free

by Shawn Johnson

“It’s hard to be depressed and thankful at the same time.”

Everyone deserves forgiveness, but if they don’t repent or change, they don’t deserve fellowship.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.6

Sleep matters. It helps us battle anxiety and depression in big ways. I’m going to be honest; I hate this rule. But I hate being caught in anxiety and depression even more. We need to clean up our sleep, and the first way to do it is to put down the screens and stop scrolling an hour before bedtime.

comparison is the thief of joy.

As any fighter will tell you, you’re never going to leave the ring without taking a few hits.

we found out there are two things that defeat the Enemy. The first is the blood Jesus shed for us when he died on the cross to forgive our sins, and the second is the power of our testimonies.

Whenever I go through a difficult season, I always remind myself that my pain will become my platform. Because anytime I go through a struggle, I also know I’m going to turn around and share the experience with those who struggle.

You are not crazy. You are not alone. This will end.

But the goal isn’t to arrive; it’s to continue the journey.