The Joy of Anxiety

Worries and fears are with us from childhood until death. They are part of the human experience we all share while on this earth, no matter our age, nor any amount of wisdom we amass. This mature realization did not hit me until I reached the second stage of life. My hope had been that the anxiety of my youth would morph into calmness and peace of mind, and that wisdom would magically appear to guide me into old age.

Yet, when I turned fifty, I discovered a new reality - that we will always have anxieties, worries and fears; they will just be different from the first half of life. Our youthful self-consciousness may wane and fears of making the wrong decision may no longer immobilize us. Though now we have end-of-life, financial stability and the meaning of our life worries.

Because my childhood insecurities had been so prominent in my life, I spent way too much time wishing serenity would mystically appear when I most needed it - overwhelmed with worry and doubt. I didn’t consider how my anxiety could bring me unexpected benefits. I certainly never imagined that I could learn how to find joy from my worries. 

However, after twenty-three years as a social worker and psychotherapist who helps others with their problems, I have found that when we pay attention to our thoughts and discover the hidden meaning of our anxieties, we can see those worries as gifts - gifts in the form of self-knowledge and wisdom, which will allow us to discover the joy that lies within us.

What if you didn’t have to hope for your anxiety to disappear and for comfort to magically appear? What if you could experience joy by exploring what causes your worries? What if you could find a new appreciation, even gratitude for a past regret that once only seemed to anger and depress you? And what if instead of viewing anxiety as a barrier to happiness and something to avoid, you could see it as a gift?

I’ve discovered that in order to change the way we view anxiety, we first need to acknowledge and accept that worries are part of our humanity. Acknowledge the reality that unexamined anxiety can be insidious.

Once we accept that as truth, we can begin the process of investigating our fears and see them simply as an evil twin to unexpected joy. I want to help you uncover these gifts.

Come along on a journey to accept how anxiety is part of the human experience, and discover how it can be both a scary roommate and a welcome friend in our lives. My hope is that this blog will help you discover how the joy of anxiety can be the joy of being human.