anxiety without fear = excitement
Image from The Returning Gathering
I had finally come to the breaking point of my monotonous day-to-day rhythm, I felt claustrophobic and trapped in my reality. It was time to unravel myself from the layers of bubblewrap around me that I had been accomodating; using as some sort of protection. I had been aware for some time of these thick barriers that were enabling me to live within the constraints of my comfort zone. But only now after driving myself temporarily insane had I realised the consequences and missed experiences that come from a life of rigidity.
My mindset was driven by a feeling of lack and desire for more; I was seeking without action and fostering a victim mentality. The answers that I was craving were more simple than I was ready to admit. It was as if I had been waiting — expecting to have some huge revelation that would solve everything and life would officially begin. This way of thinking was disabling my potential — focusing on what’s not there creates and attracts more of the same. By witnessing this circular pattern of meaningless yet comfortable routine that I had been indulging in for far too long, it was clear that the only way out was to break the cycle.
Thanks to Instagram’s keen and clever algorithm, an opportunity presented itself that I couldn’t ignore. I have a growing interest about the lifestyles of indigenous communities and have recently been been wanting to gain more of an insight into different cultural practices. So when an advertisement popped up about a women’s gathering event in the heart of the Byron shire region I jumped at the opportunity. Having felt a strong connection to these hinterlands through brief encounters in the past, I saw this as a chance for me to deepen my experience and appreciation of the land. A couple of days after sending in my application to volunteer I received a response — I was accepted. Now that my name was on the list, I felt as though I couldn’t back out — giving me that little push I needed so I was kept accountable and would finally act on my intention to break free from comfort.
Going into the weekend was indeed a leap out of my comfort zone — I could feel the self-sabotaging resistance building, noticing my mind trying to figure a way out, an excuse. I was going into a new experience, on my own, not knowing anyone and not having a clue as to what I could expect — it didn’t surprise me that I was having feelings of anxiety. My mind was filled with racing thoughts; irrational, pessimistic, doubtful — I was feeling irritable, flustered and apprehensive. As this feeling of anticipatory anxiety grew, I remembered how I used to feel before a race when I was competing as a swimmer. When I would compete, I felt intense anxiety that took over my entire body and would make it seize up, preventing me from performing at my best. Because of this, I went to see a sports psychologist who helped me recondition my perception of the pre-race nerves I was experiencing into signals of excitement rather than being indicative of anxiety. Both anxiety and excitement are characterised by high arousal and involve the same chemical process in the brain that trigger very similar responses in the body. An increase in blood pressure and heart-rate, a surge of adrenaline, and enhanced sensitivity to stimulus and decreased reaction times are all shared indicators of arousal linked to anxiety/excitement.
Anxiety is associated with destructive emotions such as fear, self-doubt and insecurity. It is felt as a negative experience, whereas excitement is a positive experience; excitement creates a sense of enthusiasm, motivation and power; resulting in feelings of invigoration and confidence. The difference between the two is largely dependant on perception.
Through anxious reappraisal, or by reframing self-talk from “I am nervous…” to “I am excited…”, it is possible to choose where to direct your concentration and energy. Rather than trying suppress anxiety, the aim of this technique is to become aware of the signs of rising arousal in order to shift potentially negative stress responses to more positive ones. Traditionally, strategies to manage anxiety tend to focus on attempting to down-regulate or suppress anxious feelings and ‘calm down’; requiring both a physiological shift from high to low arousal as well as a cognitive shift from negative to positive valence. Reappraising anxiety as excitement however, requires only a cognitive change in valence since anxiety and excitement are arousal congruent. Various studies support the use of this technique, and have proven it to be easier than traditional methods and has more effective outcomes in improving performance and controlling negative emotions. From my experience personally, I have found that using this technique is accessible and feels like the more natural way of navigating the arousal associated with the onset of anxiety.
Embrace your emotion— being anxious? Feel it, don’t fight it. It will be uncomfortable but the only way to get around anxiety is to face it. Be aware of the sensations you experience (sweating, rapid breathing, restlessness, trembling etc.).
Stop beating yourself — negative self talk feeds anxiety and negative emotions.
Now tell yourself to “Get excited!” — reframe your emotion. Acknowledge this feeling as excitement, NOT anxiety. Try to convince yourself that you’re feeling so excited right now.
Visualise success — imagine yourself doing what you are about to do with great success. Try to inject details that you can see, hear and feel into your imagination.
Examples of anxiety-excitement reappraisal:
Anxiety-produced thought: I’m worried that I’m going to have a bad time and people aren’t going to like me.
Positive reappraisal: I’m excited for these new experiences and to meet new people, I’ve got nothing to lose.
Anxiety-produced thought: I’m nervous about racing because I’m not sure if I’ll perform as well as I’d like.
Positive reappraisal: I’ve been putting a lot of work into training and I’m excited to see if I’ve improved.
“Confidence is what we get when we take fear, face it and replace it.”
So in anticipation for the women’s gathering event, I chose to turn my anxiety reflex into excitement. I was excited to break free from my looping everyday reality. I knew that I was going to be safe, and that I was in control, so there was no need to be worried. I was excited to experience anything; good or bad — whatever came my way was going to be something that I would respond to and work with; an opportunity to learn and to grow. And here I am, I was able to follow through and commit to my word and I feel a huge sense of accomplishment and I feel confident that I will be continuing to involve myself in life beyond the bubblewrap.
References
Brooks, A. (2013). Get Excited: Reappraising Pre-performance Anxiety as Excitement. Academy Of Management Proceedings, 2013(1), 10554. doi: 10.5465/ambpp.2013.10554abstract
Hofmann, S., Heering, S., Sawyer, A., & Asnaani, A. (2009). How to handle anxiety: The effects of reappraisal, acceptance, and suppression strategies on anxious arousal. Behaviour Research And Therapy, 47(5), 389-394. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2009.02.010
Smith, J. C., Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J. (2005). State anxiety and affective physiology: Effects of sustained exposure to affective pictures. Biological Psychology, 69, 247–260.
