I've been an anxious person for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was little, I seemed to worry about things that just didn't really make sense to other people. Anxiety is often a topic that is looked over, not talked about enough, or just ignored completely. As someone who has experienced quite a bit of anxiety throughout their lifetime, there some things I would like to address... on behalf of myself and others who would characterize themselves as "anxious."

We realize it doesn't really make sense.

It's incredibly hard to express or explain your anxious habits or thoughts to another person. I will fully admit some of the things I used to worry about (and still do) tend to be completely irrational. Honestly, sometimes things I get anxious about don't even make sense to me. It's completely normal to not understand what exactly is making you anxious, and if you ask someone to explain it to you... they might just not be able to.

You may grow out of it, you may not.

Like I said, I've been anxious most of my life. My anxiety has been about different things, and it has manifested itself in different ways over the years. Overcoming anxiety in one area of your life does not mean that you will never be anxious again. Also, getting over an anxious habit doesn't mean it may never happen again. Sometimes something will trigger an anxious habit that you "thought you got over" without warning. Often times, this makes me feel defeated.

Just because you're anxious doesn't mean it's life crippling or depressed.

Yeah, I've dealt with my fair share of anxiety throughout my life, but this doesn't mean that everyone would "know" or "recognize" that I'm an anxious person. Your anxiety isn't always crippling. You're not always someone who is "diagnosed" or "clinical." You may be, which is totally fine too. Basically, having anxiety doesn't make you any less of a "normal" person. Sometimes anxiety doesn't seem to control your whole life, sometimes it does. It depends on the person, and really depends on the person at that time. Again, anxiety may change, get better, get worse, or go away. Also, just because you're an anxious person doesn't necessarily mean you're depressed. Yes, anxiety and depression may go hand-in-hand at times, but they're not directly related. You cannot just assume because someone claims they are anxious that they're automatically depressed.

You're really not always in control.

It's really hard sometimes to "just think about something else" or "just forget about it." People who aren't typically anxious may not really understand this, but having anxiety often feels like your brain is programmed to only work a certain way. Obviously, some of overcoming anxieties is just to change your thinking or actions, but doing this is not always an easy feat. Anxiety doesn't have an on/off button.

Sometimes it's hard to talk about.

Personally, I have overcome a lot of my anxiety in life, and I'm really proud of myself for it. However, I would say that I was always embarrassed that I was an anxious person, and I never really talked about it to anyone unless they were very close to me. I really just kind of pretended my anxiety didn't exist. In fact, I really hesitated in even writing this article because of the implications "anxiety" brings when people hear or read it. Basically, it's hard to explain, hard to talk about, and often hard to admit. If you're an anxious person and are incredibly open and confident in it, I admire you greatly.

I write this admitting I am no "expert" on anxiety. Quite frankly, I've never really seen a counselor or anything about my anxiety, so all of this is based on experiences I've had with anxiety alone. Anxiety is different for everyone, so all of these things stated don't fully encompass everything one with anxiety experiences. I wrote this only with the intent to explain some of the things I encountered in my own struggles with anxiety, and hoping it might clarify some things on this topic which I don't think we address enough.

Finally, anxiety is common. It is often unexplainable, and it's often uncontrollable. It's not something someone chooses to have, and it's often not something "easy to get over." It's often a part of someone's day to day life, and it's not something that we should consider "weird" or label someone as "different" for. If you're an anxious person too, I hope that you relate to some of these things I've identified. For me, I've learned not to worry about the things I cannot control. I've learned that sometimes that's hard, but to take it day by day, and only worry about the challenges each day brings as they come. I've learned that it's okay to talk about your anxiety with others, even if you can't really explain it.

The motto I've learned to live with, and one I think is incredibly applicable to all types of anxiety: this too shall pass. Remember it. Think it. Live it. You'll make it through, I promise.