Purple Moon Blog Tour!
1:00 AM Today I am taking part of a blog tour for a wonderful book Purple Moon by Tessa Hall (you can read my review here). I have followed Tessa for a long time and was so excited to see her book finally published. She is on my blog today talk about how she dealt with anxiety
Dealing with
Anxiety: The Spiritual IV
It was the summer of when I was fifteen, and my
family was staying with another family at their beach house in Florida. We decided
to start the first day of our vacation off by running along the shore. After a
while of running, I started feeling weak, and I just couldn’t seem to keep up
with everyone. The morning Florida sun was beating down, which only made it
difficult to keep going. And as I started realizing that everyone was getting
further and further ahead of me, I started to panic and hyperventilate.
Somehow, I was able to get my mom’s attention. She
and her friend immediately came to me and tried to calm me down—but it was too
late. My face was pale, and my lips were already turning blue.
There weren’t many people along the beach this early
June morning, so I was very fortunate that a couple sat underneath an umbrella right
next to us. Since we didn’t seem to have a choice, we asked the couple if they
had anything for me to eat or drink. I’d never been so grateful to see a bottle
of Gatorade in my entire life.
I sat underneath the umbrella and sipped on the
Gatorade, trying to focus on breathing in through my nose and out through my
mouth as my mom placed a cool, damp paper towel on the back of my neck.
Meanwhile—after we called for beach patrol, a guy apparently witnessed this
scene. He quickly ran to a nearby gas station and soon came back with a candy
bar for me.
The snacks definitely prevented me from passing out.
However, I still couldn’t seem to stop hyperventilating. After the beach patrol
came, they took my blood pressure and realized that I needed to go to the
hospital.
It was very difficult to keep from panicking,
especially since I was already short of breath—but somehow, as I sat in the
back of the Beach Patrol truck on the way to an ambulance, the rush of the wind
seemed to relax me as I closed my eyes and prayed.
As soon as I was transferred into the ambulance, I
remember the nurse telling me that she was going to stick an IV in me.
“Will it…help me breathe?” I asked in between
breaths.
“Yes,” she replied, “but it might hurt a little.”
At that point, I didn’t care how much pain it might
cause. I just wanted to breathe clearly again.
Later that day, I found out that I had dehydrated. I
was also told that I had vagal response syndrome, which is when your body
overreacts to certain triggers, and is common in small-framed teenagers.
(Standing on the beach where I almost passed days before)
Unfortunately, this would be the first of a few more
similar episodes (only one of which I had to go back to the hospital). For a
long time afterwards, I was terrified of having another episode. I couldn’t
even go to the movies to see an action-packed movie without feeling claustrophobic
and short of breath.
Of course, the fear of having an episode only made
it worse—especially when I was on the verge of hyperventilating and would start
to, simply because I was so afraid. I got to the point where I wouldn’t work
out much since it caused me to be short of breath.
Not too long ago, I found out that I am also hypoglycemic
(which is caused by low blood sugar). To put it short, I start shaking and
feeling very weak only a few hours after I eat.
I haven’t had an episode in a few years, which I am
very grateful for. However, I was very close to having one on Labor Day of this
year.
I was visiting my sister who lives at the beach, and
we were planning on spending the day riding bikes on an island. I’d had cereal
that morning—but a few hours later, after we ordered our rental bikes, I
noticed that I was shaking…a lot. And it didn’t help that the humidity was
extremely high, either.
We had to go on a ten minute bike ride just to find
a place that sold food. Although I was pedaling way slower than I usually do,
the rush of the wind helped cool me off and calm me down enough until we
reached a place that sold Luna Bars.
It wasn’t until we got off the bikes and went inside
did the panic really hit me. I was shaking even more than before, and it was
all I could do to prevent myself from hyperventilating.
I sat down with my two Luna Bars and a Gatorade
(seriously, those drinks are a life saver) and tried my best to calm down. Now,
I’m sure the breathing part was just due to anxiety, because it wasn’t until I
started thinking about how badly I did not want to go to the hospital did I start
to experience the most trouble.
And if I
hadn’t learn how to focus on God and His peace, I’m almost positive that I
would’ve had to go to the hospital again.
(Later that day. As you can see, I felt much better =)
Every time I come close to panicking, I force myself
to recall when the hospital put an IV on my arm—or in other words, “the machine
that calmed me down and helped me breathe”. I believe that hooking myself up to a “spiritual IV” is the very thing
that can help calm me down when I start to feel anxious.
I’m sure we’ve all struggled with anxiety at one
point or another in our lives. And not to give away any spoilers—but in Purple Moon, Selena frequently suffers
from anxiety attacks. Honestly, I’m not even sure when I decided to incorporate
that into the story, but it was definitely God’s doing. Because of Purple Moon—not
only was I able to relate with those who suffer with anxiety, but I was also
able to write from experience and find healing in the process.
“Do not
be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
~ Philippians 4:6-7
~ Philippians 4:6-7
In
the midst of anxiety, hook yourself up to a spiritual IV by calling upon God.
As mentioned in the above scripture, His peace will immediately come and still
your anxious heart. Set your mind on Him
only, and nothing else. That is the secret that I have learned, and I
believe that this is what prevented me from hyperventilating during my last
episode.
You
have control over your mind, body, and emotions. Don’t let anxiety hold you
back from experiencing your life. Instead, overcome
anxiety by showing it that it is not going to have any power over you.
Besides, why would you pay for a trip to the
hospital when a free spiritual IV is available to you 24/7?
Fact
or Fiction?:
Guess this fact or fiction, and be sure to stop by the
next blog tour stop to see if you guessed correctly! (You’ll also receive one
extra entry for the “Purple Moon” Prize Pack if you send me your guess.)
"Purple Moon” Prize Pack!
Purple Moon” Blog
Tour Stops:
Don’t forget to stop by the blog tour’s next stop to increase your
chances of winning the PURPLE MOON Prize Pack!
Wednesday,
September 18th: Purple Moon Blog Tour Launch: The Story Behind the Story: Christ is Write
Tuesday, September
24th: Release Day! Selena’s Diary Entry + Creative Photo Contest: Writing for Young Adults
Thursday, October 24th: How Much of My Personal
Life Did I Put Into “Purple Moon”?: Read For Your Future
3 comments
Thanks for having me! =D
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. One thing about suffering from anxiety attacks is that for me it always made (makes) me feel alone in it and that I'm messed up in some way. It's a help to know about other's who struggle- and conquer!- this same issue. God is good, and He is my strength. Looking forward to reading your book! Thanks again for the guest post. ^.^
ReplyDeletecool!
ReplyDelete