My secret in defeating anxiety

It took me 3 years to realize the secret ? I tried a lot of different things, apart from prescribed medication, to heal myself of anxiety. I experimented with exercise and meditation. For me, meditation works very effectively, and I can feel its effect soon after practicing it. I do breathing meditation, wherein I sit comfortably, close my eyes and start breathing slowly. I focus on the breath, as it goes in and out of the nostrils. The mind wanders a lot. But the key is to not mind that. The key is to try and focus AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, without minding how successfully you were able to focus. I do this about 20 ? 30 minutes daily. There are other meditation techniques also, but I haven?t tried them as yet. I also go through guided meditation podcasts (Link - https://www.meditationoasis.com/podcast/listen-to-podcast/). It was hard for me to make it a habit though. I needed 1 more ingredient to help spark the discipline in me to meditate regularly. And the ingredient was this - Anxiety (and depression) has an old classic tactic that it uses to tie down its prisoners. It MAKES you think that you can't get better. It MAKES you feel that you'll always be down. It MAKES you feel that there's no hope or escape. That's the trick it uses on its every prey. Suppose there is a newborn elephant. Just after being born, he gets tied to a pole by a chain. The baby, being weak, is unable to break free. He tries to pull, but can't break loose. He feels horrible, and loses all hope that he'll ever be able to get free, and that he'll forever be like this. As he grows up, he keeps this fear and past experiences in his mind. When he becomes a fully grown adult, he tries again to pull and break the chain. As soon as he tries to pull, the chain shows resistance. That resistance scares him like anything. He gets reminded of how he was kept like this all through his childhood. The fear captures his mind all over again. He is haunted by his childhood thoughts - that he will never be able to overcome this resistance. But the truth is, as we all know, that the fully grown adult can very easily break the chain and set himself free. All the links of the chain are actually broken! He his haunted tremendously by his past. THIS IS WHAT DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY DID TO ME. Whenever you try to break free, anxiety (or depression) will try to pull you back into the hole. And once it does that, you'll get freaked out, and immediately stop protesting. Anxiety's trick wins the game. NOW, TO DEFEAT ANXIETY, I REALIZED THAT I NEED TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS IS ALL JUST A CLEVER TRICK PLAYED BY IT. I REALIZED THAT, NO MATTER THE RESISTANCE, I WILL REMIND MYSELF THAT THIS IS HOW ANXIETY ATTACKS AND TRIES TO PULL YOU BACK. I REALIZED THAT ALL THE LINKS ARE ACTUALLY BROKEN, AND THAT I HAD TO ALWAYS KEEP MY EYES OPEN AND LOOK AT THEM AND TELL MYSELF THAT ANXIETY IS TRYING TO FOOL ME INTO THINKING THAT THE RESISTANCE IS ENORMOUS. THE RESISTANCE JUST FEELS ENORMOUS, BUT IN REALITY, IT IS VERY WEAK. IT IS JUST AN ILLUSIONARY TACTIC EMPLOYED BY ANXIETY. Then, thinking about it, I tried harder, harder and harder. I didn't pay attention to the resistance. I didn't pay attention to the delay in my improvement. I didn't pay attention to its tricks, because I knew that although they were clever, but really very hollow ones. Anxiety?s tactic has an inherently fundamental flaw, which if understood, will devastate anxiety. I started feeling better and better, and with each such instance, my anxiety got weaker and weaker. It started showing lesser resistance whenever I tried harder to break free. NOW ANXIETY WAS LOSING THE BATTLE. I'm now very well aware of this trick, and it has helped me immensely to keep trying. Don't mind if you don't get better in a day, or a week, or a month. I know it?s very, very, very hard. The resistance is enormous. But remember it's all an illusion. The resistance just FEELS enormous, but it is in reality very, very weak. Anxiety fools you into thinking that the resistance is infinite. After persevering harder and for longer, anxiety will start losing very quickly. I feel much better now. Now, I FINALLY have the confidence that I can break free. And this confidence accelerates me even further. I kill a hundred soldiers of anxiety each day. And now, I can finally see the light. I am very close to my freedom. But the final day of the war is approaching. Now, Anxiety?s army gets bombarded heavily every day. Anxiety is losing its soldiers very fast, and in huge numbers. The final day of the battle is approaching. And my strategy is working perfectly. The conqueror is now getting conquered. All the pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly now. Till now, anxiety had won all the battles. BUT I AM WINNING THE FINAL BATTLE. AND VERY SOON, I WILL WIN THE WAR.