Do you ever feel like you aren’t good enough, there is no gold star for achievement in life, that if something isn’t the absolute best, you would rather do nothing at all. Welcome to the real Ari Life. I live with clinical anxiety. It is my greatest driver for my success, but can also be absolutely debilitating.

Anxiety has a negative connotation. It is a pulse that beats through our veins, stimulating our flight or fight survival. This anxiety has allowed us to survive the Ice Age, times of famine, natural catastrophes, human destruction, and more. Is our anxiety really necessary today? Can we learn or thrive without a catalyst? In theory, yes, for me, no. I was raised in a household driven by anxiety and competition, the middle child of three fiercely competitive girls. I was taught at a young age that winning earns validation. If I did not perform, if I did not win, I was not validated, seen, or heard. The fear of failure urges me to succeed in the most uncomfortable circumstances.

Competition and anxiety feels like a safe abusive relationship with myself, a place of comfortable trauma that is only recognized after the anxiety takes place.

You never overcome anxiety. You simply learn to live with it, and lessen the effects on your body. Take the fear, panic attacks, and outbursts of anger and frustration and turn them into an ocean of emotion you live in, never finding the shore, always treading water. The survival of the storm becomes just as rewarding as a calm seamless day.

If you want to know how you hold it all together, you don’t. You keep working through the anxiety; cry when it’s hard, because life is hard; cry when it’s beautiful, because life on its worst day is a miracle.

CBD is an anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety healing Cannabidiol. It is a part of my daily wellness regimen, and crucial in reducing my anxiety and inflammation in my body. CBD feels like a warm hug, a ray of sunshine on a bed of sand, and a pink fluffy cloud. CBD changes the chemical reaction in your brain (neurotransmissions) to produce serotonin when receiving conflict based information.

Typically, people with anxiety, depression or mood disorders, have impaired 5-HT1A receptors. CBD increases the function of these receptors resulting in a decrease of anxiety, a better mood, increase in cognitive function, and memory retention.

CBD isn’t the cure all for internal conflicts, but it will increase your ability to process your anxiety. Will continue to pour CBD on my life…. Who is with me?

xx

Ariana