Navigating My Health Anxiety

Racing hearts and racing minds can make the shadows difficult to overcome. Been there?

Martin Giles
Human Parts

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The word Anxiety in shaky white letters against a black backrgound
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Mortality.

How does that word make you feel? It can be a scary word for many of us. Yet, it’s something that others don’t seem to give a second thought about. For me, it's the former. Despite being fit by society’s standard, I’ve always worried much more than I’ve needed to.

A recent health event triggered led me to genuinely believe that my current age may just be the final number of my book… 53. That’s a long way from the number I have set my life goal at, 100. The unexpected experience really shook me, and to say the least, has since instilled a deep sense of gratitude for every day.

A guy in the forest against the sunlight looking up with palms towards the sky expressing gratitude
Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash

It started with some weird sharp chest pains. Googling didn’t help because according to the searches I did, I had virtually every illness I could think of, specifically heart disease. My posts encouraged me to go to ER. So what did I do?

I went to ER! But the results of the EKG were good. Wonderful right!? Yes! But that reassurance was what I needed and must have lasted… about a day. As soon as I felt…

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Martin Giles
Human Parts

Born in Canada, raised in Australia, and with 25 years of adult life in Tokyo Japan. Business Branding Specialist with a major in customer experiences.