Awhile back, I commented on a friend’s Facebook post regarding the struggles that she faces as she lives with her anxiety disorder. Some special gem of a person that she called a Facebook ‘friend’ fired back with a ‘suck it up, buttercup, we’ve all got troubles’ type comment… and all of a sudden I was caught up in an (admittedly petty) comment war with me trying to point out that anxiety disorders were real issues that can make just getting up each morning and going about a daily routine extremely difficult. I’ll never forget the last comment this individual posted – she said “Life is hard – deal with it…you don’t get a gold star for getting up, going to work, or taking care of your kids.” I didn’t reply to this one because I was busy thinking “No, but I TOTALLY SHOULD!”…and if you suffer from anxiety, but still get up and give every day your best shot – YOU SHOULD TOO!

An idea started to form – what if I did wear a gold star on hard days to symbolize that the fight in me hadn’t died even though my anxiety disorder was kicking my ass? What if I wore a gold star every day to remind myself to keep fighting and keep moving forward when symptoms started to close in? What if I gave all of my friends that suffer from anxiety a gold star to recognize their fight against their anxiety disorders? What if they in turn gave their friends with anxiety gold stars and it spread? What if the next time I’m in a crowded airport or a grocery store or the doctor’s office and start feeling overwhelmed and about to lose hope, I look up and see a stranger wearing a gold star and I’m reminded that I’m not alone? What if we created a support network? Nay – a support alliance of fellow anxiety fighters that could keep us feeling encouraged and empowered? This idea….this dream…this vision was the start of the Gold Star Alliance concept.