Overcoming Anxiety

Anxiety does not describe the feeling I had. Palms were shaking, my heart was racing, smoking one cigarette after another. I cannot fully comprehend how I convinced myself to do something that I was completely afraid of. Experiencing something new could be exciting and fun, but if you are forcing yourself to do it, however, it could be the biggest mistake of your life. I never thought that I would ever get a tattoo. I was completely afraid of needles. That February day has changed me completely from the get-go, and for a good reason. I had to get over my fear of needles and did not know how else to do it. Facing your fears head-on is the most challenging, yet rewarding things you can do in your life, especially when you have support, and is
Buzzing in the background from the tattoo machines, the smell of fresh ink, guys playing on an Xbox in the lobby. “Wow, this is actually pretty exciting,” I thought to myself. I really liked this vibe. It was so relaxed, everyone was nice, and I started to feel comfortable. After signing in and describing what I wanted, we had to wait about fifteen minutes before we were called back. I was shocked that it took such a short time on a Saturday evening. I thought I would be in the lobby for hours with fear rising up my spine and nausea in my gut. When we finally were walked back to my artist’s room, he had me lay on my stomach while my boyfriend rolled the back of my shirt up. Now I am finally petrified. What was I thinking of getting my first tattoo on my spine? My artist put the stencil on and I thought it tickled, but was still terrified completely. Here comes the buzzing. I knew it was now or never. I must push myself to stay on the table and get this
Eventually, I started to feel this vibrating feeling on my back. I did not think it was so bad at the time. He did the outline which went smoothly and I heard that would be the worst of it. This was going great. I wasn’t scared anymore and I felt confident the coloring would be even better. Oh no, was I wrong? That was the worst pain of my life. Feeling faint, I had to ask for a break. We had been in there for about an hour and I just couldn’t take it anymore. My boyfriend and the artist gave me some water and I sat up for a couple minutes. I started to feel better until I stood up. The room was spinning and I was freaking out. Oh great, here it goes again with passing out. Surprisingly, the artist handed me a Dum Dum. He said that I just needed sugar for my blood pressure. He was right. I think I had about 3 more Dum Dum’s after that. I never thought that the feeling of passing out was the result of lowering your blood sugar. After he finished, he used green soap, which is a cleaning agent, to clean off the tattoo. When I got up and looked in the mirror I was ecstatic than ever. From there on, I knew that I could do this again, which I have. Now I can even get my blood drawn without passing out. Not only that, I have been able to get back on the highway which I have not done since my major car accident when I was 16, along with being able to get my blood drawn, or something as simple as s