From the bottom of my heart; Thank You

On monday, october 16th, I took place in front of my colleagues at Mynewsdesk, and spoke openly and without shame, about my history of anxiety, depression and my many many panic attacks.

I only spoke for about 15-20 minutes, and afterwords, I got about 15 hugs from different coworkers, and so many "Thank you for sharing" comments. As I sat down at my computer, so many comments rolled in from co workers who had listened, who thanked me and who said that they recognize themselves in so many things, and that it's so important to speak up about these things because that shows others who also suffer that they are not alone.

I posted a status on LinkedIn, about my little speech, and that I spoke because I see a desperate need for something to change. The first step is to just talk about it, to show everyone else that it happened to me, it is still happening to me, and that I am a living proof that you can find ways to live with your anxiety and make your way out of the darkness.
My post on LinkedIn started trending and I am right now at 177 likes and 17 comments, most of these from people that I am not in contact with on LinkedIn. My post has reached over 12000 people and one comment just rolled in 5 minutes ago, so it's still reaching new people.

I am so beyond words. I am SO grateful to everyone who hit "like" and/or left a comment so that my post is shown to your group of contacts on LinkedIn.
I could never imagine that it would start spreading the way it did but I'm so happy about it, because that means that I am touching on a VERY important matter, that so many people can relate to.

I have talked about my anxiety in my blog, and I always open up completely when people come to talk to me, and I have never ever felt an ounce of shame. Ever.

I have heard people say that I'm brave when I'm opening up, and that I am strong because I talk about it so openly. I am extremely humble in what I'm about to write now, but I actually don't understand the part where I'm brave and strong, because to me, it's crystal clear and a a matter of course. I don't see myself as brave or strong, I see it as my obvious duty.

I have gotten the proof I need now in order to continue my own little journey to reach new people. I have dreamt about talking about this openly infront of new crowds for years, and I think it's about to really happen. I know that I am doing something big, because if I can reach out to just one person who can admit to him or herself that there's a negative stress present in their life, and start working on making a change, I have done plenty.

The first step to making a change is to become aware. And how to we become aware? By talking about it.