I was once the little girl, afraid to sleep in my bed, because the Boogey Man was under my bed. I was the girl that checked my closet twelve times before jumping into my bed before the monster could get me. This was a fear, that in time, I overcame. As we grow older, we accumulate new fears, ones that are not as easy to overcome. In our society today, it is sad to say, that our monsters lie within us.

Author, Stephen King, once said,

"monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win."

As we go through life, we encounter different types of people, different types of feelings, different types of experiences, and the list goes on and on. At times, these outside forces can get in our heads, and cause a trigger to be pulled, revealing a side of ourselves that we have never met before.

A multitude of things in life can bring out our monsters, a thought, the future, a crush, a question. No, there is no escaping our monsters. But, we cannot let this part of us take control. When negativity strikes, come back from it positively.

Anxiety: noun |fear or nervousness about what might happen.

If you were to say that you never thought about the future or what it may hold, you'd be lying. In a short term scenario, you may have anxiety about a grade on a paper, if you'll get the job, if you'll succeed. These thoughts and worries, if you let them, will take over in ways you've never imagined. Overthinking and dwelling on an idea is similar to handing the ax murderer the ax, and standing in their way without any intention of running. In doing so, you are essentially breaking yourself down, stressing yourself out, and creating a whirlwind of uncontrollable emotions.

The future is inevitable, so anxiety is inevitable, right? Wrong. Therapists insist that "changing your brain", meaning your thoughts, beliefs and feelings, is the way to rid the monster. Understanding this concept takes time and effort as improvement will not happen overnight. Revamping our thoughts and our ways of thinking is like converting to a new religion, or changing our major. We literally have to start over and rewire ourselves. When the little voice of anxiety gets in our head, we must have the willpower to remind ourselves that it is just our fears (monster) talking - it is not reality.

Like the monster under the bed, we must confront the situation, and check out the scene. Instead of searching in our bedroom, we search inside our brain only to realize that it is us standing in the way of our internal peace.

Desire: verb |to want or wish for (something).

The most common example of desire as a monster has to do with sex. If you've never been cheated on, you most likely know someone who has been on either end of it. The reasoning behind sexual desire has to do with ourselves. The outcome of these thoughts and insecurities tend to lead to infidelity. In many relationships, one of the partners will stray and cheat because they feel as though they are not appreciated, loved, worthy enough, etc.

No, this is no excuse to cheat and mess with someone's feelings, but it is a monster inside of the cheater that they do not know how to control. This idea by no means giving the cheaters of the world an excuse for their behavior, but instead, it explains that they are weak. Those who cannot control their sexual desires have a voice in their head telling them it is okay, when in reality, if they ignored this voice, they would know that it is not.

Like the monster under the bed, we must recognize that it is not truly there unless we tell ourselves it is. For someone with uncontrollable sexual desires, training the mind to see what is right in front of them instead of taking the easy way out, is what will prove that the monster does not have to exist.

Doubt: verb | to have no confidence in (someone or something).

As the quote says, the monster lies within ourselves. One of the most common issues that our society does is doubt ourselves because the pressures of life cause us to raise our expectations too high at times. In ways, it is good to be hard on yourself because it builds character and structure. But when it comes to yourself, not your aspirations, you must recognize that you are you for a reason.

You may doubt that you're smart enough to pass the exam or you may doubt your beauty. But your flaws are what make you, you. With low self-esteem and a lack of self-confidence, you will only encourage your monster to take control over you. Starting with yourself and then working towards your goals will only lead to success. The sky is the limit, but one cannot recognize that until they recognize who they are.

Like the monster under the bed, we must trust or parents when they say there is nothing there. It is our parents cheering us on in our corner, telling us that we are perfect the way we are. Once we realize that we are who we are, no monster, big or small, will allow us to believe we are not good enough.

Our biggest fear in life fifteen years ago was the monster under our bed. But the fear that we need to get a hold of, the one that can be as gory, terrifying and ominous as we make it, is the monster that lies within ourselves. This monster can become as big as we allow it to be, it can stay as long as we allow it to stay, and it will ruin us as much as we allow it to. Find your inner monster, and set it free.