26.2 miles done🙌 With your help I was able to raise $16,683 and our @bravelikegabe team raised $82,225 for rare cancer research💝
Thank you for all your support whether you cheered me on and/or donated🙏
And you know I need to make a life lesson out of everything so let me share this…
Wednesday night I had a full blown panic attack and told Stephen I was going to give my bib away. I raised the money and that was enough. Fear gripped my heart and I was ready to throw this experience away.
Yet I woke up on Thursday morning knowing I couldn’t let fear win the battle for my heart. I functioned in an anxious state leading up to that starting line. Literally taking each moment, one step at a time.
I share this with you because fear and anxiety are real, yet the thoughts we experience in those states are often not rooted in truth. They are projections of what may be but it doesn’t mean they will be.
It’s not easy to get through anxiety and panic, and I don’t want to pretend I have the answers for everyone’s experience. Yet for me, being present in the moment, going step by step, and inviting others in to let them know I’m not okay and their support helped me get to that starting line.
I share this with you because I know there are others who deal with anxiety and panic attacks too. They can be crippling and keep us from experiencing truth rooted thoughts and wonderful experiences. If you get what I mean, I’ll invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
May we be prayerful to let peace and truth rule our hearts and minds so that the fear doesn’t win. May we invite others in from loved ones to doctors, if we need it, to help us through. May we be present where we are and when our thoughts fast forward to what ifs, or the gloom of the unknown, may we reel our thoughts back in. And instead of focusing on the bad, may we practice focusing on what good there is. Let’s take things literally moment by moment, day by day, so that we get to experience things God has for us, and allow faith to win the battle for our hearts and minds, as I am so grateful won the battle for mine this week.
With love and hope,
Shawn