Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning. There are just weeks that push me down and make me feel like I can't breathe. Life is so overwhelming, and there is so much pressure placed on us. Pressure to excel in school/varsity/work, pressure to look good, pressure to have a good body, pressure to be confident, to eat healthy, to be kind and generous....it never ends. And as a result, we become hard on ourselves and grow a hatred when we cannot always achieve these things. We begin to believe we are not good enough and should just stop trying... When life becomes choppy and you cannot see over the waves, when you feel overwhelmed and anxiety takes over, when your chest becomes tight and you cannot breathe....just stop. Stop and take a deep breath. Clear your mind. You do not have to meet anyone's expectations! Your abilities are so much better than their expectations. You have nothing to prove, not to yourself or anyone else! Don't put yourself down for not being perfect. Imper

Where do you find your identity? If someone had to ask you to describe yourself, what would you say? Is your identity in your looks? Your work? Your family? For a very long time I put my identity in my achievements. In my marks. I felt that I wasn't good enough to be identified with anything else, because there was nothing else I excelled in. I was my achievements. And if I didn't achieve, I would completely break. I'd feel worthless, like I didn't try hard enough or simply didn't deserve anything. It's very dangerous and draining placing your identity in something other than yourself and who God made you to be. You were crafted and designed by someone who took the time to design you the way you are, with all your quirks and interests. Don't identify yourself with something that will let you down. My marks let me down sometimes and I felt broken and forgotten. As if people wouldn't like me unless I had something to show for myself. But once I put my id