The Root of Anxiety
Anxiety: distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune.
Introduction
Anxiety is our body’s normal reaction to stress; when we are presented with an unknown or dangerous situation, our emotions takes over, and we start to feel anxious; as our body anticipates future distress.
Symptoms of anxiety include: dread, fear, uneasiness, restlessness, tense-feeling, sweating, and rapid heartbeats.
Anxiety: scope of influence
Anxiety is something we’ve all experienced at some point. It’s a part of our lives, and influences how we react to the world around us. Its function is to alert us to looming threats, to fight or flight, allowing us to plan a response. This state of alarm fosters improved performance and stimulates creativity.
In a recent study in the U.K, 1 in 5 people said they feel anxious ‘nearly all of time time’. Many of us feel anxious countless times a day. Some commentators have even gone on to described this as ‘The Age of Anxiety’.
If left unchecked, anxiety can lead to anxiety disorder; a mental health condition where the emotions attributed to anxiety do not go away, and can get worse and degrade over time.
Responding to anxiety
Anxiety is an essential aspect of our humanity; it is a natural human emotional response.
Anxiety spurs us to action by suppressing us in negative emotions. But there is a way to take actions while being flooded with positive emotions. You have to be ‘excited’ about the situation. If you find ways to eagerly look-forward to the thing you dread, you will begin to face any challenge with courage and gleeful optimism.
Moving from analysis-paralysis to effective planning and detailed execution can make all the difference. It is all a frame-of-mind. Choose to see the opportunities, even in dreary situations. Change your perspective till you see why the situation is a unique opportunity to have to take hold of. Break big tasks into smaller ones. Do your research and make your plans. Prioritize your work, and look forward to the execution. It’s how you can make your dreams come true.
Excitement: a feeling of great enthusiasm and eagerness.
Parallels between anxiety and excitement
We can start to process anxiety as excitement when we see that those two feelings come from the same place.
According to research, the difference between anxiety and excitement lies is in our interpretation. We feel excited when we choose to see opportunity, and we feel anxious when we cannot push beyond the negative emotions.
A research by Havard in 2013 reveals that people who choose to frame the feeling of anxiety as excitement do better than their counterparts.
Face life with excitement
Anxiety can become crippling which doesn’t leave us energy to do the things that need to be done. But excitement is reinvigorating.
It’s not enough to simply hope for the best when excited. One also has to also channel energy from the excitement into decisive planing.
Breaking the task at hand into smaller chunks that can be tackled individually could help. The focus should be to become capable enough to execute, even as you look forward in earnest.
Move through life giddy about the things that bring you joy and fill you with excitement; good planning and effective execution will bring your dreams to life, because deep down, anxiety is really just mis-expressed excitement.
