The Positives of Anxiety

Do you ever find yourself being so hard on yourself for having anxiety? Thinking what you could get done if you used your time to do things rather than over think?

It is common for anxiety sufferers to feel like they are “wasting” time, as while others are off “doing” things, as you see it, you feel that you are just worrying. Even though you are getting things done also, the anxiety means that we do not feel that sense of accomplishment that others feel. Making it worse, those who have anxiety often compare themselves to others and feel bad about the way they are. That is before we even mention feeling scared, nervous and agitated.

Why is that? Why do we do this?

It could be because we only ever hear the negative things about having anxiety. Plus the verb that we use with anxiety is extremely negative – to suffer. Yes, people who have anxiety would agree they suffer, but that is just one side of the coin. There is always a positive!

Everything in life has duality, the good and the bad, the light and the dark, the strength and the weakness. However, when all the focus is on the negative aspect, the scales tip and as such we are living in a world where anxiety is seen as “a bad thing”. A thing to suffer from.

The reality is that having anxiety is an experience that gives us many great traits. There are positives that come from this challenge.

It makes you extremely attune to your emotions, more empathetic to others, making you a good friend or colleague. Anxiety sufferers tend to take others emotions into consideration in the workplace too, making them great bosses and team leaders. Mental health is becoming just as important in the workplace and society as physical health, and anxiety sufferers know how important this is and are better placed to support others.

People with anxiety also tend to be great readers of energy and other people. Through your own experiences, you can better read what a person needs and also gauge the atmosphere of a room. You are also great at creating an atmosphere in which people feel as comfortable as possible. If everyone was like this, it would be a much kinder world. Through your experiences, you may find that people gravitate towards you. You truly are a blessing to them, and the world. Never let your anxiety make you doubt that.

The anxious are also experts at thinking, or rather, over thinking. This often makes us excellent problem solvers. Sure, when we are in the midst of an anxiety attack, we feel the brain fog, but at other times, we are expert problem solvers, having learned to use our brain to look at all angles of all problems. This is a very useful too.

Anxiety causes us to be so hard on ourselves, and it can make us feel like there is no positive part of this thing. That is the Power of Anxiety!

We chose this name for that very reason – to respect the power that anxiety has on us but also to view it as a superpower! There is always the duality.

Yes anxiety is powerful, but it means so are we! We survive it every day. Every day aspects of life require strength that non-sufferers do not understand. So really, we are actually STRONGER not weaker! Have you ever thought that about yourself? You are stronger than most.

Anxiety is the reason that the human race has survived this long. It very much has a purpose. Just as pain is there to show us that if we continue with that action, we will cause harm to the body, anxiety is there to show us that we have fear of something. It acts as a warning system to let us know that we must stop and take time to perceive what it is that we fear about our current situation.

As those who suffer know, anxiety is extremely difficult. We would trade the chance to have a billion dollars to never feel it again. However, life is beautifully complicated, and we must be gentle on ourselves. We are doing our absolute best in every moment, even if we do not see it. Our anxiety takes our perspective, but you are doing great and growing into a better person because of it.

Anxiety can be extremely difficult, and you should never walk this path alone. Always have a health professional helping you and never be afraid to ask for help. Don’t forget to love yourself too!

You are extremely strong.

Love, @powerofanxiety