Today I was dealing with a lot of the preparation for my upcoming trail and found myself filled with an overwhelming anxiety. The kind where you shake from your core, and you don’t know whether to cry or scream. I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I got to the point where I just needed to get out of the house. I didn’t know where I was going. I just picked a direction and started walking.

On today’s journey there was a lot of thinking and crying – some true expressions of emotion. It got me to remember just how important my walks are. Not necessarily walking, but quiet time, void of distraction. I thought to myself, “Yes, I can finally hear myself think!”

We live in a world that is constantly throwing information in our faces and keeping our minds busy. There is the radio, tv, ipod, phone calls and dare I say it… Facebook. Everywhere you go there is an opportunity to shut down your mind and drown yourself in distraction.

Value the quiet times. Although it can be terrifying to face the emotions that you are feeling it is gratifying to know that they are now underfoot.

Bethany Ruck is cofounder of Overcoming Sexual Abuse, an online resource for male and female abuse survivors looking for practical answers and tools for healing. Besides helping abuse survivors see the beauty within themselves, she enhances the beauty of others as a professional make-up artist and has worked in television, film and print.

[read Bethany's story here]

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