ALONG THE BARREN ROAD

Tag: Anxiety

  • Failure Is A Key To Success

    Failure Is A Key To Success

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    by

    Justin Farley

    Success is how well you’ve done with the potential within yourself. The potential for love, for honesty, for self-awareness, for growth, for forgiveness. Success is how well you’ve polished your soul and only failure and heartache can make you aware that it even needs cleaned.

  • Hope in Mental Health Recovery

    Hope in Mental Health Recovery

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    by

    Justin Farley

    Real hope for recovery from mental illness depends on realistic expectations and flexibility.

  • Stopping the OCD and Anxiety Spirals of Negative Thoughts

    Stopping the OCD and Anxiety Spirals of Negative Thoughts

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    by

    Justin Farley

    “A fourth thought arrived. Then many more”–so begins the hell of the spiral down to a panic attack or at least misery. This quote is a perfect description of how the spiral of anxiety starts and morphs into full blown panic from a single thought. Oh, if only you could avoid the first worried thought…

  • Why Do Adults Lose Their Imaginations?

    Why Do Adults Lose Their Imaginations?

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    by

    Justin Farley

    A post and a poem that examines using your imagination as an adult and attempts to answer the question: Do adults lose their imaginations?

  • Feathers A Christian Poem About Letting Go of Fear and Worry

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    by

    Justin Farley

    Feathers The weight of the world is a feather in the hand of its maker. It does not burden, break, or bury the one who reigns outside of Time and Space’s domain. Our behemoths are merely single barbs attached to that weightless shaft that flutters like the forest’s souvenirs given to a child, fallen from…

  • Monsters – Poem About Anxiety Disorder and Fear

    Monsters – Poem About Anxiety Disorder and Fear

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    by

    Justin Farley

    Monsters Poem about Anxiety Disorder and Fear Fear waits for me under the bed – a faceless monster made of shadow that slithers towards me in the darkness the moment my head hits the pillow. Devouring my dreams. Splitting the seams of sleep. Replacing yawns with racing thoughts. Justin Farley

  • A Guided Meditation for Panic and Anxiety Disorders with Hypochondria

    A Guided Meditation for Panic and Anxiety Disorders with Hypochondria

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    by

    Justin Farley

    Meditation is often touted as a great solution for alleviating anxiety and stress. And it can be, but for those of us who have anxiety disorders, meditation and stillness runs counter-intuitive to our body’s natural desire to run and distract ourselves whenever we’re alone with our thoughts. I wanted to share something that has really…

  • Orion, the Hunter – A Poem

    Orion, the Hunter – A Poem

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    by

    Justin Farley

    ORION, THE HUNTER Orion, hunter of the skies, I’m jealous of you. Every time I look up I find you with your bow drawn and an arrow nocked, ready to be shot out into the universe. That must be one happy hunting ground you roam. While I sit at home, trying to find a way…

  • The Road to Recovery – A Poem by Justin Farley

    The Road to Recovery – A Poem by Justin Farley

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    by

    Justin Farley

    The Road to Recovery I tried walking away from madness, seeking peace. But found I was bound and a captive, unable to retreat. Astonished, I looked down at shackles clasped around my hands and feet. I have hollered until I was hoarse; solitude is the only company I keep. What is left now other than…

  • How Anxiety Distracts Us From God

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    by

    Justin Farley

       The Noticer Let me be a noticer of things in your world instead of a dweller of my inner thoughts, worries, and selfish longings that only keep me distracted from you. For when I uproot myself out of the present moment and plant my focus on myself, I rob myself of the joy of…

  • Internal Fire – A Poem

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    by

    Justin Farley

    Smoke fills the lungs. Warning signals run in desperation to alert the mind in a race that’s become all too familiar. Flames engulf my entrails like dry twigs thrown on a campfire on an August night. In frantic panic, eyes search for aid, but people pass by as if nothing were amiss. Surely someone must…

  • Rhyming Mental Health Poem About Bipolar Disorder Manic Depression

    Rhyming Mental Health Poem About Bipolar Disorder Manic Depression

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    by

    Justin Farley

    A poem about mental health that rhymes comparing bipolar disorder to a lifelong roller coaster ride that you are unable to get off of, written by poet Justin Farley.

  • Living With Fear – A Poem About Anxiety Disorder and Mental Illness

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    by

    Justin Farley

    Living With Fear – A Poem About Anxiety and Mental Illness Close your eyes.Keep yourself blindTo the hideous beastThat hides beneath this veil of security. Pretend you can’t see meFor who I am –A scared, frightened, shell of a manRaging in the solitude of fear’s prison. I can’t even stand the visionThat stares back at…

  • Fear of the Lord – A Lesson On What It Means To Fear God

    Fear of the Lord – A Lesson On What It Means To Fear God

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    by

    Justin Farley

    “Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” – Proverbs 9:10 As you read through the Old Testament, fear of or fearing the Lord is a common theme. It wasn’t until a recent study through the book of Proverbs that I truly grasped this concept…

  • The Woman in the Mirror

    The Woman in the Mirror

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    by

    Justin Farley

    The Woman in the Mirror You are a seductive temptressthat tempts with the ticks of time.In control of the clocks hands,only needing to rewind to the moments we left behind. You still lurk in the shadows –a creature stalking in the dead of night.But potential follows wherever your heart goes,needing only to let go of…

  • The Clouds of Mourning – A Poem About Depression and Pain

    The Clouds of Mourning – A Poem About Depression and Pain

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    by

    Justin Farley

    As we go through life, there are inevitable seasons where it seems the skies are always cloudy, always raining, and the forecast will never change. Anyone that has ever dealt with depression (or any mental illness for that matter) knows that it is like a ghost that haunts you no matter where you go or…

  • Growing Pains – A Poem

    Growing Pains – A Poem

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    by

    Justin Farley

    Growing Pains – A Poem Why are these dreams that stretch out across my heart’s field of desire, That glisten Like droplets of drew sparkling on the morning grass, So hard to obtain, so hard to take to take hold of, And so hard to lasso and pull close to reality? The burden is bearing…

  • Eclipse – A Poem

    Eclipse – A Poem

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    by

    Justin Farley

    Eclipse – A Poem Two sides of a conflicting coin Flip like faces in a dramatic act. Two intricate and separate forces entangle In a bitter struggle, leaving Earth cloaked in black. How can such a powerful light Be smothered by such a small, sinister hand? A visceral visual of what evil can accomplish When given…


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My Poetry Collections

the book cover of Nature's Bounty by Justin Farley— a poetry collection about the beauty of nature with subjects on birds, plants, trees, animals, the forest, and God.
A deep poetry book about the beauty of nature and the natural world by poet Justin Farley.
the book cover of Frozen Rivers by Justin Farley— a poetry collection about depression and the hardships of mental illness, balanced with nature poems on the season of winter.
Deep poems about depression and the hardships of mental illness, balanced with nature poems on the winter season by poet Justin Farley. Book 1 of the Seasons series.
a mental health poetry book about joy and nature poems on the season of spring
Inspirational poems about mental health, healing, and spring by poet Justin Farley. Book 2 of the Seasons series.
the book cover of Summer Days Sunburnt Nights by Justin Farley— a mental health poetry book about bipolar disorder and nature poems on the season of spring
Deep poems about bipolar disorder and being neurodivergent, balanced with nature poems on summer by poet Justin Farley. Book 3 of the Seasons series.
the book cover of A Voice in the Wilderness—A Chapbook of Poems About God by Justin Farley. It is a deep Christian poetry collection about contemplation, the spiritual journey, and finding grace through Jesus.
A contemplative, prayerful Christian poetry book about the spiritual journey and discovering God’s grace, mercy, and love.
the book cover of Thorns of Love by Justin Farley. It is a deep love poetry collection about sadness of breakups, divorce, and heartbreak.
A deep love poetry book about the pain of break ups and the heartbreak felt when relationships end by poet Justin Farley.