An honest look at anxiety and the universal truths it reveals about being human
There is a perpetual somberness that burrows itself beneath the battered skin of the ever anxious. To pretend otherwise is to fool oneself into believing they are free from anxiety — often one of the earliest signs of what some call madness.
Yet it is also a sign of what it means to be human. We are, by nature, anxious creatures — like most animals who live with constant fear. Whether it’s the fear of losing a loved one, losing our own lives, or letting others down… we all suffer from some form of anxiety. It is, perhaps, one of our few shared traits.
We often get lost in the world and all that engulfs it, like a moth to a flame — though the moth has the potential to lift itself higher. The flame is limited. The moth is not. Humans are the same, or at least similar in that respect. We are capable of soaring to heights where even the fiercest flames cannot reach. We are capable of so much, yet so few dare to try — paralyzed by the fear of being burned.
But is it necessary? To let the embers singe the wings we were born with? To allow others to become the flame in our lives? Or perhaps… there is another way.
From the moment we step outside our homes, the walls that once protected us no longer do. And because of this, we are forced to protect ourselves from anything that might seem harmful. Often, this instinct is misdirected. Often, it is misguided. And far too often, it is exploited by those who know how to take advantage of it. And so, the cycle continues.
Anxiety often arises from human insecurity in an environment that offers no true sense of safety. In such unpredictability, thoughts grow erratic — nearly uncontrollable at times. These thoughts eventually manifest as what we’ve come to call “anxiety.”
Unfortunately, there is no real way around it. Anxiety will always be there — but so will Courage. And when anxiety is met with courage, something powerful happens: a realization that there is not a single thing in this beautiful world we are incapable of achieving.
We are human. And every human feels. Every human fears. Every human hopes. Anxiety is just another part of the emotional spectrum — and it, too, can be understood.
