Examine Your Anxiety

We see the Stoics speaking frequently about anxiety and its futility, that is, the inherently unproductive nature of expending energy worrying about that which has not yet happened. It's useful to distinguish anxiety from preparedness, the latter being that of choosing to tactically respond now to what foresight presents.

Inherently not action oriented, anxiousness is a state where future possibilities steal present peace. While one could find any number of self-help resources addressing this topic at length, what's not spoken about in relation to this is the following: Anxiety indicates privilege, pointing to the fact that you have something to lose.

It points to you being in a position to have been afforded certain options. It's in better service to us, then, to orient our energy toward maintaining whatever it is that granted us that position.

Put concretely, what are the qualities and characteristics that enabled you to initially attain or reach whatever it is you fear you may lose? (Considered cautiously, the corollary may also be useful: What are the tendencies that put you in a position to have something taken?)

Philosopher Seneca tells us that where we arrive matters far less than who we are once we get there. Organizational business author Jim Collins notes that the right "who" can tackle any what.

Those who sustain their success for the long term are often those with an unrelenting focus on being the type of person who can sustain success. They're not focused on circumstances being perfect or on odds always being in their favor, but on being the type of person who, come what may, can achieve their intent.

Our task is not to never be anxious, but rather, to consciously examine anxiety whenever it arises, expediently taming the potentially destructive in pursuit of the constructive. This is the aim of the Stoic.

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