Can anxiety be a positive?
Written on 5th Nov 2020 by Alex Lowery
During lockdown and COVID 19, I have basically been stuck in doors every day. I’ve even got used to this and have been reluctant to even leave the house.
The other day my mum and sister were going for a 2 hours walk to McDonald’s there and back. My mum asked if I would join them. At first, I was reluctant but eventually, I decided to. After an hour of walking, I was feeling tired and almost regretted coming.
However, this was a clear indication that I was really lacking in exercise lately because usually I wouldn’t get tired after an hour’s walking. If anything, I’d normally be way faster than anyone else. It clearly showed that staying in doors most days meant I really wasn’t getting much exercise at all and needed to do more walks in order to keep fit. I spoke to my mum about this too and she reminded me of the family history of heart attacks. Having a heart attack has been one of my biggest for more than half of my life. When I was about 10, I was afraid to even eat unhealthy food for fear I would develop heart disease. I’ve also been afraid of developing diabetes for a very long time. My dad had severe diabetes and I saw how much he struggled with it and I don’t know how I’d cope if I had to deal with that on top of all my other issues.
When on the walk I was reminded of these fears and it made me feel like I really needed to go on more walks to get more exercise. This goes to show you that not all anxiety is necessarily negative. There is a level of anxiety that’s necessary because it can prevent certain things from happening. What’s important is to find the right balance.
Thank you for reading. I’d like to ask you, are there any times when you’ve found anxiety can actually be an advantage?
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