By Ashley Hefner, Photographer and Staff Writer
As I near the end of my undergraduate journey, my anxiety about my future success has increased, and my angst has been particularly terrible this year. I have trouble sleeping, severe panic attacks and a ridiculous amount of mental breakdowns. It’s as if I have no control over my negative emotions.
Since I was a little girl, I’ve always felt anxious about being successful in the future, and nothing has helped me cope with it. I’ve tried different anti-anxiety medications, various types of therapy and seen multiple therapists. Still, nothing has been able to relieve my mind from the concern that I might not attain the bright future I so deeply crave.
Success is linked to living a comfortable lifestyle, and everyone wishes to live without stress about jobs or finances. If being successful results in a life of ease and comfort, it makes sense that many experience fear and anxiety over not having just this. Unfortunately, anxiety regarding the future is not a problem that can be easily solved, because we can’t predict the future.
What we can control, however, is how we set ourselves up for success now.
As students, the path to ensure this involves working day and night to receive good grades and simultaneously building a resume by filling it with internships, clubs and anything else that stands out to a future employer. Although staying on this path will most likely yield success, the time management involved in maintaining a good GPA, showing up on time to internships and meeting deadlines for the tasks associated with clubs can be stress-provoking. Still, we sacrifice our feelings for the comfort of knowing we’re setting ourselves up for a bright future.
I know this sacrifice all too well, having lived through the grind myself, where sleep becomes a luxury and pressure a constant companion. The only advice that has been helpful regarding my extreme stress about the future was from a friend who said that I should “thank my anxiety.”
At first, this sounded bizarre. Anxiety can often be debilitating and definitely not something to be grateful for. Eventually, though, her reasoning clicked in my brain – the anxiety one feels, specifically regarding one’s future goals, signals an essential trait: eagerness to be great. That is the exact reason I have so much anxiety about doing well in school and building my resume, and I am one hundred percent positive that many other college students feel the same way. I am eager to reach an immense amount of success, which is not a bad thing in the slightest.
Of course, having severe anxiety about being successful is not something I would wish upon anyone, because I know what it feels like to lose sleep over my future. However, when one has tried everything else in their power to manage intense emotions, all that can be done moving forward is to validate and positively reframe them.
For those of us who are kept up at night with the thoughts like, “I need to do well on this test to be successful later in life” or “I need to do more to build my resume,” congratulations, because you carry the fantastic quality of caring about creating a good life. These thoughts can be the root of extremely unpleasant emotions, but if you didn’t have them, you wouldn’t have the same urgency to accomplish your goals.
Having the ability to thank your anxiety is a practical coping mechanism, because it allows you to accept what you’re feeling without judgment while also giving room to reevaluate feelings more positively. For anyone experiencing angst regarding the need to maintain or increase their GPA or about which internships they should apply for this summer, first, take a moment to thank your anxiety. It may just be what is keeping you on a path toward success.