Enjoying the Journey

Anxiety is a normal part of life, especially in America.  The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that anxiety disorders are the most common mental health concern in the United States, and over 40 million adults in this country have an anxiety disorder.  In addition, about 7% of children from the age of 3-17 experience anxiety challenges each year.

There is a difference between experiencing anxiety and having an anxiety disorder.  We have all experienced occasional worry about something going on in our life, or a concern for others.  However, an anxiety disorder occurs when the anxiety persists for months, or perhaps years and it may become worse as time progresses.

There are many of us who may use anxiety to motivate ourselves to work harder towards a goal, or to meet a challenge.  I remember years ago when I started a new job position, I found myself practically dreaming about the new work I had to learn until I got the hang of it.  There was this extra motivation to learn and become comfortable with the new responsibilities to be learned and performed.  Yet, if we are honest, none of us like being anxious.  Although it may help motivate us towards our goals or dreams, it can also rob us of enjoying the journey towards those goals.  The question is, how do we enjoy the journey, or how do we enjoy the present while we push our way into the future?

The good news is there are several healthy ways of managing this emotion.  Perhaps the most common way is through psychotherapy which supplies several approaches such as CBT, and also, becoming increasingly popular is ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy).  The ACT approach is quite effective because it addresses the anxiety that comes from the guilt of experiencing anxiety.  When we struggle to get rid of anxiety, it often happens that we become more anxious because of being anxious.  In the ACT approach, instead of trying to turn off the anxiety (switch), it becomes much more productive to invest our time and energy into doing what is meaningful in our life, such as spending quality time with family or other meaningful activities.  This is how to enjoy the journey rather than only having a sense of happiness when a dream or goal has been reached.  Along with psychotherapy, medication may also be necessary if the anxiety has persisted for months or years.  Perhaps it could even be a familial trait that has nothing to do with a person’s thought patterns, but a clinical disorder from birth and the environment that nurtured that individual.

Finally, for those of us who have faith in God through Jesus Christ, there is another way that would be beneficial if practiced consistently throughout the experience of a life in which anxiety is as common as a common cold.  Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) gives us: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace which exceeds anything we can understand…”  This approach is most recommended, even if the other approaches are used.

As stated earlier, anxiety/worry is something we all encounter as we go along our journey in life.  However, God has provided a way for us to shorten, or at least manage that experience.  It seems what He is telling us is that instead of focusing on what we are worried or anxious about, we would fare much better if our focus is on Him and the beauty of His Creation.