The Creature in Your Head

If you saw it, you’d think monster. It’s dark talons send shivers down your spine and it’s dark coat makes it easy to hide. A long tail strong enough to shatter bone with eyes that glow orange. It sneaks around in corners, just out of sight. You can always feel it’s presence deep in the night.

If you knew what it did, you’d think virus. The way it infects your mind and speaks dark thoughts in your ear. It’s the cause for all of your irrational fear. It drains you of energy and happiness by the negative ideas it plants in your head. After awhile you begin to feel as though you are dead.

If you knew it, you’d know none of those are true. For it is not a monster or a virus. It’s a skittish creature looking for a home and somebody to protect. It sits on your shoulder every day so it can warn you of danger, though the little creature seems to be afraid of everything. Though it’s intentions are only to keep you safe, it’s unaware of the damage it does to how you think. It’s anxious habits begin to rub off on you. Now, even without the creature whispering danger in your ear, you begin to sense it all around you. Your heart rate quickens uncontrollably and you find it hard to breathe. It seems the whole world is spinning. The little creature can do nothing to help, it only panics and makes things worse without meaning to.

This creature is called anxiety. It roams the earth looking for a new home on someone’s shoulder. Little does it know what he does to those people is damage their brain and make their life hard. Eventually he will get kicked out by most and have to move on. Though it’s hard to say goodbye and be rid of this hitchhiker, it’s better for both you and the creature to be without each other.

The creature will soon learn to get its own anxious feelings under control, as will you.