A Quiet Kind of Thunder QUOTES

3 " And then it happens. The panic. It's slow at first, creeping through the cracks in my thoughts until everything starts to feel heavy. It builds; it becomes something physical that clutches at my insides and squeezes out the air and the blood. "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

4 " Panic attacks are a lot like being drunk in some ways, you lose self-control. You cry for seemingly no reason. You deal with the hangover long into the next day. "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

5 " Here are three separate but similar things: shyness, introversion and social anxiety. You can have one, two or all three of these things simultaneously. A lot of the time people thing they're all the same thing, but that's just not true. Extroverts can be shy, introverts can be bold, and a condition like anxiety can strike whatever kind of social animal you are.

Lots of people are shy. Shy is normal. A bit of anxiety is normal. Throw the two together, add some brain-signal error - a NO ENTRY sign on the neural highway from my brain to my mouth perhaps, though no one really knows - and you have me. "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

6 " Little victories are everything in a world where worst-case scenarios are on an endless loop in your head. "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

7 " Speak your truth, even if your voice shakes "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

8 " Doesn’t she know? Doesn’t she get it? That in anxious heads like mine all it takes is a few words to bring a careful foundation tumbling down? "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

9 " Here are three separate but similar things: shyness, introversion and social anxiety. You can have one, two or all three of these things simultaneously. A lot of the time people thing they're all the same thing, but that's just not true. Extroverts can be shy, introverts can be bold, and a condition like anxiety can strike whatever kind of social animal you are. "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

10 " Bad brain: You know that thing on Saturday? It's going to be a disaster.
Good brain: No, it won't. It'll be fine.
Bad brain: You'll say something stupid.
Good brain: No, you won't.
Bad brain: Yeah. You will.
Good brain: OK, yeah, you will. But that's not a disaster.
Bad brain: Yeah it is. Rhys will be like, damn, I've made a mistake here.
Good brain: No, he won't.
Bad brain: Yeah. He will.
Good brain: That might happen, actually. "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

11 " With lightning, you're never really sure if that's what it was; it's just a flash. Thunder, you know. You feel it. "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

12 " Things I worried about on the bus: a snapshot of an anxious brain . . . Is that car slowing down? Is someone going to get out and kidnap me? It is slowing down. What if someone asks for directions? What if—Oh. They’re just dropping someone off. The bus is late. What if it doesn’t arrive? What if I’m late getting to school? Did I turn my straighteners off ? What if the bus isn’t running today and no one told me? Where’s the—oh. There’s the bus. Oh crap is that Rowan from Biology? What if he sees me? What if he wants to chat? Hide. Okay, he hasn’t seen me. He hasn’t seen me. What if he did see me and now he thinks I’m weird for not saying hi? Did I remember to clean out Rita’s bowl properly? What if she gets sick? One day Rita will die. One day I’ll die. One day everyone will die. What if I die today and everyone sees that my bra has a hole in it? What if the bus crashes? Where are the exits? Why is there an exit on the ceiling? What if that headache Dad has is a brain tumor? Would I live with Mum all the time if Dad died? Why am I thinking about my living arrangements instead of how horrible it would be if Dad died? What’s wrong with me? What if Rhys doesn’t like me? What if he does? What if we get together and we split up? What if we get together and don’t split up and then we’re together forever until we die? One day I’ll die. Did I remember to turn my straighteners off ? Yes. Yes. Did I? Okay my stop’s coming up. I need to get off in about two minutes. Should I get up now? Will the guy next to me get that I have to get off or will I have to ask him to move? But what if he’s getting off too and I look like a twat? What if worrying kills brain cells? What if I never get to go to university? What if I do and it’s awful? Should I say thank you to the driver on the way off ? Okay, get up, move toward the front of the bus. Go, step. Don’t trip over that old man’s stick. Watch out for the stick. Watch out for the—shit. Did anyone notice that? No, no one’s looking at me. But what if they are? Okay, doors are opening, GO! I didn’t say thank you to the driver. What if he’s having a bad day and that would have made it better? Am I a bad person? Yeah but did I actually turn my straighteners off ? "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

13 " What are you thinking, Steffi? What are you thinking?
Everything, all the time.
You're so quiet, Steffi. Why are you so quiet?
But in my head it's so loud.
I'm sure everyone has an inner monologue, but I doubt many are as wordy as mine. "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

14 " Here’s the thing about anxiety: it’s not rational. It’s not rational, but it’s still real, and it’s still scary, and that’s OK "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

15 " There are some people you will do anything for if they really need you "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

16 " Tem is always the one who takes the lead, who makes the friends. The needed one. I am the one who needs, the one who misses. "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

17 " Meekness is my camouflage; silence is my force field. "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

18 " What if I speak at the same time as someone else? What if no one hears me and I have to repeat myself? What if I say something stupid and they all look at me weirdly? Why would anyone care what I have to say anyway? "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

19 " Here's the thing about anxiety: it's not rational. It's not rational, but it's still real, and it's still scary, and that's okay. "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder

20 " Things I worried about on the bus: a snapshot of an anxious brain . . . Is that car slowing down? Is someone going to get out and kidnap me? It is slowing down. What if someone asks for directions? What if—Oh. They’re just dropping someone off. The bus is late. What if it doesn’t arrive? What if I’m late getting to school? Did I turn my straighteners off ? What if the bus isn’t running today and no one told me? Where’s the—oh. There’s the bus. Oh crap is that Rowan from Biology? What if he sees me? What if he wants to chat? Hide. Okay, he hasn’t seen me. He hasn’t seen me. What if he did see me and now he thinks I’m weird for not saying hi? Did I remember to clean out Rita’s bowl properly? What if she gets sick? One day Rita will die. One day I’ll die. One day everyone will die. What if I die today and everyone sees that my bra has a hole in it? What if the bus crashes? Where are the exits? Why is there an exit on the ceiling? What if that headache Dad has is a brain tumor? Would I live with Mum all the time if Dad died? Why am I thinking about my living arrangements instead of how horrible it would be if Dad died? What’s wrong with me? What if Rhys doesn’t like me? What if he does? What if we get together and we split up? What if we get together and don’t split up and then we’re together forever until we die? One day I’ll die. Did I remember to turn my straighteners off ? Yes. Yes. Did I? Okay my stop’s coming up. I need to get off in about two minutes. Should I get up now? Will the guy next to me get that I have to get off or will I have to ask him to move? But what if he’s getting off too and I look like a twat? What if worrying kills brain cells? What if I never get to go to university? What if I do and it’s awful? Should I say thank you to the driver on the way off ? Okay, get up, move toward the front of the bus. Go, step. Don’t trip over that old man’s stick. Watch out for the stick. Watch out for the—shit. Did anyone notice that? No, no one’s looking at me. But what if they are? Okay, doors are opening, GO! I didn’t say thank you to the driver. What if he’s having a bad day and that would have made it better? Am I a bad person? "

― Sara Barnard , A Quiet Kind of Thunder