As someone who has consistently set high bars for achievement and worked tirelessly to reach certain goals, I’ve been grateful to have found success in various professional, athletic, and personal pursuits. But a sense of accomplishment has often been short-lived and accompanied by a nagging sense of “not quite good enough.”
While Christian Science has deepened my understanding of my identity, helping me see that the talents and abilities we have are what God gives us through our reflection of Him, I would sometimes succumb to the temptation to take personal credit for my achievements. The result was that I often felt intense personal pressure to excel, do more, and take responsibility for fixing relationship issues with others.
This pressure led to occasional bouts of anxiety. In April of last year, as my husband and I were preparing to travel internationally for a wedding and a much-anticipated trip to the Holy Land, the anxiety seemed especially aggressive. When it did not quickly yield after praying on my own, I called a Christian Science practitioner for treatment.
