Anxiety

Anxiety is a wild thing. The more I talk to people, the more I realize how common it is. I think the sad truth about it belongs to the people that don’t speak up. I’m not talking about the people that aren’t prepared to discuss it yet. I think the opportunity is missed from the people who choose not to share their anxiety for whatever reason.

The antiquated ideology surrounding anxiety is that it’s a bad thing. However, no one is perfect. I can guarantee that the people we consider great now or in the past have also felt anxiety. The difference and where the confusion and misinformation lies in how we define anxiety.

I don’t think it’s my place to define it. For that you can look at any medical website. My thoughts revolve around the conversation. Talking about anxiety is powerful because it both relieves the person experiencing it while opening up the conversation to others.

Anxiety also is a spectrum. Because of that, everyone experiences it to some extent, and to hold it in can lead to disastrous results down the line. I experience anxiety. For example, open water swimming is anxiety inducing for me.

The key fact about that is I don’t let it stop me, and neither should you. I wrote in my first article about doing an iron man how horrible I felt doing my first open water swim. Had I let that define who I was, I wouldn’t have now completed 5 half Ironmans with plans to do so much more this year.

If anything, that anxiety taught me a valuable lesson. I feverishly try to use my feelings and emotions as signals to explore rather than signals to stop. I feel in these situations our body and mind is telling us to dig deep because this is where we have the most to learn.

From that first swim, I learned how to face my anxiety and perform no matter what I’m feeling. I remember my second race vividly. The day before the race, I stood on the dock where we would begin the swim. I spent what felt like an hour simply visualizing the start because that’s where I felt the most fear.

In that initial shock as I jumped into the cold water is where I felt the least amount of control. So, I sat there, and just pictured it over and over again until it no longer had control over me. This was boring. It was monotonous, but it worked.

When I jumped into the water the next day, I felt strong. I felt in control. And, I came out of that with my best swim time yet.

Accept anxiety as normal. See it as a signal. And use it as an opportunity to grow.