Photo: YuriArcurs
Special to United Methodist Insight | Oct. 21, 2025
Author's Note: I asked AI to take Podcast Episode 193: How to Make Your Anxiety Work for You and turn it into a blog post. This is the result after my (human) edits.
Anxiety is not an enemy to be eradicated. It is an evolved signal that prepares us to imagine and respond to the future. When we believe anxiety is harmful, we trigger avoidance and suppression that make it worse. Reframing anxiety as useful emotion changes how it affects our thinking, relationships, and performance.
Two common myths about non-clinical anxiety
First myth: anxiety is dangerous and must be prevented or eliminated.
Second myth: anxiety is a sign of poor mental health that needs fixing.
Both myths push people toward avoidance, suppression, and secrecy. Those responses amplify anxiety, reduce curiosity, and block the adaptive functions anxiety was designed to serve.
The true purpose of anxiety
Anxiety evolved to help humans prepare for uncertain futures. Biologically, anxiety and excitement are nearly identical. Experiencing anxiety means your mind is running simulations about what could happen, which creates opportunities to plan, adapt, and act. Anxiety heightens focus, fuels persistence, and primes creativity. It is tightly linked to hope because imagining risks often coexists with imagining possible gains.
Practical steps to reframe anxiety
- Self-regulate first. Learn to calm the physiological surge of anxiety so you can think clearly and respond intentionally.
- Get curious. Ask what your anxiety is pointing to and what specific future scenario it is trying to protect you from.
- Thank the signal. Acknowledge that anxiety is trying to pull your attention to something important.
- Turn insight into action. Choose one positive step or thought that channels anxious energy into hope, planning, or creative problem-solving.
Research shows that interpreting anxiety as excitement or as a performance advantage improves outcomes compared with simply giving in to anxious reactions. Emotional regulation is the foundation that lets you use anxiety rather than be used by it.
Anxiety and social connection
Anxiety increases oxytocin, a hormone that primes us for emotional connection. Reaching out to others when you’re anxious strengthens bonds and helps process distress. There are two family-systems takeaways here. First, seek trusted people to process anxiety with. This builds clearer self-definition. Second, move toward anxious family members rather than away from them, staying calm so you can lower the system’s overall anxiety. Connection is one of the most reliable ways to manage distress, whether it’s yours or others.
Anxiety as a creativity engine
Periods of anxiety boost creative fluency, increasing both the number and quality of ideas and the persistence necessary to solve problems. If your aim is to make an impact, anxiety can be a resource that expands imagination and tenacity. Edwin Friedman said that leaders not only need to learn to embrace discomfort, they need to learn to love it. When you are anxious about the future, it’s an opportunity to do something differently to improve it.
Closing thought for leaders
Nonanxious leaders are not anxiety-free. The difference is skillful regulation and positive framing. When you learn to feel anxiety in the right way, it becomes a tool that sharpens focus, strengthens relationships, and fuels creative persistence. Say hello to anxiety as an ally rather than an enemy.