I understand how surprising this might sound — how a feeling that seems like a curse can actually be a blessing. This will sound strange. It doesn't need to make sense right now. Just read it.
When anxiety feels like a curse — calling it anything else sounds dishonest, even insulting. I'm not going to tell you to "reframe" it or "be grateful." That's not what this is.
I know the frustration of worsening anxiety symptoms, and the sadness that creeps in when you still feel anxiety lingering, even after trying to check and calm yourself.
What I am saying is this: the people who've been through anxiety and come out the other side — many of them say something unexpected. That they're glad it happened. Not because it was pleasant. Because of what it gave them.
They don't know that, even if we want to, we can't be positive. Often, they advise you to think less, not realizing that no matter how much we want, we can't stop our thoughts. They suggest activities like going out, hanging with friends, traveling, watching movies, but they don't know that anxiety accompanies us wherever we go.
It's possible that your family starts considering you guilty, thinking everything is fine, all the reports are fine, there's no illness, yet you're causing drama. But it's not their fault. They don't know how anxiety feels and how we can't just remove it despite wanting to.
I remember how I went from being a confident person to constantly worrying about everything in just one night. I was afraid of standing in a bank line, going to a movie theater, driving, even doing small things. Now I know that facing anxiety requires a different level of courage.
You might think you have been turned into a coward. But you are still strong, dealing with anxiety every day and handling your tasks as well. In anxiety, where every new task seems like a challenge, you still manage to continue despite your fears. This indeed requires courage. You deserve a Bravery Award for this.
Anxiety is an opportunity that will prove to be a gift for you. Anxiety will teach you a lot and guide you towards a peaceful life. A life that you may never reach if anxiety doesn't come into play. Although right now it might seem like a distant dream, honestly speaking, the anxiety hidden within the curse is a blessing.
There comes a day when you find yourself thanking anxiety too. However, all of this happens when you try to understand anxiety and work to overcome it.
They think you're overthinking for no reason or unnecessarily creating fear within yourself. So, they suggest you stay calm and think positively. However, those who experience this know well that being calm or thinking positively in such situations is just a myth.
What you're going through with anxiety is a common part of life, and it can be addressed with the right understanding and practices. Depression and anxiety are just common faces of life that nature has given you because you were unaware until now. You had misconceptions about nature and life. You were looking at life the wrong way. You couldn't see the beauty and completeness of life; you were focusing on imperfections.
Anxiety and depression come not to make your life worse but to make it better. They are here to make you aware of what you didn't know about yourself and the parts of you that remained unknown.
Understanding the value of the present is challenging. It teaches you that what is available right now is sufficient for a beautiful life. Don't chase after more and more things. It's teaching you how expectations from things lead to sadness and how attaching yourself too much to the past and future is a waste of energy.
Anxiety and depression are here to show you the beauty of life. It's not for children. It's for those who are slightly matured but not fully. It's here to mature you completely. It's not a curse, but a blessing. It's tough training, not the result of your wrongdoings. You can't become a brave soldier until you've gone through tough training.
In Japan, there's an ancient technique called Kintsugi, which is the art of repairing pottery. They fill the cracks in pottery with gold lacquer so that when the pottery is repaired, it becomes more beautiful and valuable than before.
Similarly, your anxiety is like those cracks that can be filled with something valuable. Then, you become an even more beautiful person. Anxiety makes you better than you could ever have been. It has a positive meaning and purpose in your life. You'll realize this later. There will come a time when you'll say "thank you" to anxiety.
Anxiety can start due to internal or external reasons, but the real cause is usually internal. It's a false threat that resides within your mind. Here, you need to forget about external matters and understand yourself from within.
In fact, during anxiety, we get closer to our true selves. That's why, during anxiety, we become capable of noticing and experiencing small things. We know the little things inside. In the past, we were never as aware of ourselves as we are now, because we are closer to our inner selves at this moment.
This is not a bad thing. Instead, it's an opportunity to cleanse yourself from within, to understand yourself from within. Grab this opportunity.
Average people rarely get so close to their inner selves as we do during anxiety. So, this is the time to leave external matters aside and work with yourself from within. This is the time to deeply understand yourself, your psychology, and your mind.
In this moment, you understand how your mind works — that your memory and emotions are not responsible for this state. They might appear responsible right now, but it's only your mind playing tricks on you. I'm here to provide knowledge and guide you through experiments to show you how your mind can work under your control.
Once you understand how your mind operates, you eventually start feeling naturally better. When we deeply understand what is happening within us, the path also starts becoming clearer. You gradually start feeling a wonderful freedom. But this progress often comes when you understand why symptoms occur, rather than just trying to fix them.
So, to attain a more lighthearted life, it's important to understand seriously. I believe you're intelligent and eager to get better. So, you will surely improve.
Anxiety is not weakness. It's often the opposite — a high sensitivity, a deep awareness, a capacity to feel things intensely. These same qualities, once understood, become something entirely different.
People who go through anxiety often emerge with a groundedness, a patience, and an empathy that people who've never been through it don't have. That's not nothing.
You don't need to believe this now. Just know — what you're feeling right now is not the end of the story.
If something landed here — read about the journey. No pressure, no deadline. And if you have questions, just ask.