Anxiety sucks, yet everyone on earth will experience it. Some will experience it more than others but nonetheless, anxiety is a human emotion that everyone can relate to experiencing. However, anxiety isn’t always a negative thing.
1. Anxiety is a sign of intelligence.
There are several types of intelligence, and having anxiety can help you become more interpersonally and or intrapersonally intelligent. How, you may ask? Well, chances are you probably get anxious over things that you care about, versus things you don't. When you're worrying about things that you care about, you become more aware of what your feelings are, as well as what you want in life. On the other hand, caring about others is empathetic and can lead to helping you learn how understand their emotions. At the end of the day, anxiety either can make you a better person or a better people person. Both are important factors in creating and maintaining relationships in your life, and who wants to be alone in life?
2. Anxiety is an excellent motivator.
College is filled with stressors and exams (or grades in general) are arguably the biggest ones. Sure, being stressed about an upcoming exam isn't fun, it's irritating. The endless pages of notes, all the highlighted parts seem to bleed in together, and the stacks of flashcards around you are enough to make you want to give up right then and there. However, with anxiety by your side, you do the opposite. Indeed, the feelings that come with anxiety are unpleasant to feel but you use them to your advantage, in order to perform your best. At the end of the day, the countless hours of anxiety and studying won't matter when you get that "A" you worked so hard for.
3. You become stronger.
Anxiety can make you feel like you're suffocating in your own skin. At times it can make you want to give up on whatever it is you're going for, but at the end of the day, you keep pushing. Just like Dory from "Finding Nemo" said, you "Just keep swimming" through life. Learning how to deal with anxiety and everything that comes along with it, you build the emotional and mental strength to get through future situations with more ease. Anxiety is not who you are, but a small part of an amazing, complex individual.
