Anxiety: Your Hidden Engine for Growth
- Lenka Schulze, Ph.D.
- Apr 27
- 3 min read
Updated: May 26
Do you sometimes wonder...What is anxiety? Where does it come from? Is it something I should fear, or something I meant to feel? And most importantly… how do I deal with it?
If you’ve ever experienced anxiety, you know how real it feels:
Racing thoughts that won’t slow down
A tight chest or knots in your stomach
That sense of urgency - I need to fix this now”
Spiraling “what if” scenarios
Endless overthinking
For years, many of us have been taught that anxiety is a problem to fix - or better yet, eliminate. But what if that approach is actually making things worse?
Anxiety in Psychology
According to Harvard psychologist Dr. David Rosmarin, anxiety isn’t the enemy. In fact, it can be a powerful force for growth, purpose, and even success, if we learn how to relate to it differently.
Before we go further, it’s important to make a distinction. There are clinical anxiety disorders, which absolutely deserve care, support, and often professional treatment such as therapy or medication. But what we’re talking about here is something different, non-clinical anxiety. The kind that all of us experience to varying degrees. The kind that shows up before a big decision, during uncertainty, or when we care deeply about something.
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Dr. Rosmarin describes anxiety as a universal human emotion. And interestingly, the more we try to push it away, suppress it, or “get rid of it,” the stronger it tends to become. Trying to live a life completely free of anxiety sets us up with unrealistic expectations, and often, more frustration.
Increasing Instances of Anxiety
And we are seeing this play out on a larger scale.
Anxiety is more common than ever, especially among younger generations:
Nearly 1 in 3 adolescents report significant anxiety
Suicide is now one of the leading causes of death among young people
Studies show today’s teens report higher anxiety than previous generations
Rates of anxiety are often higher in high-income countries
So what is really going on?
Why would more resourced, “comfortable” societies experience more anxiety?
According to Dr. Rosmarin, it is not just about our circumstances, it is about our relationship with anxiety itself. We have been conditioned to believe anxiety is something to fear, suppress, or avoid… instead of something to understand and engage with.
As he puts it:
“The problem may not be anxiety itself - but our fear of it.”
What if, instead of fighting anxiety, we learned to work with it? Instead of shaming it, we could begin to:
Name it
Understand what it’s trying to tell us
Refocus its energy in a helpful direction
Anxiety Is an Invitation - Turn Anxiety Into Strength
Anxiety, at its core, often signals that something matters to us. It can point us toward growth, meaning, and action, if we are willing to listen rather than resist.
What if we could turn anxiety into strength?
Dr. Rosmarin invites you to shift your perspective: From seeing anxiety as a weakness…to recognizing it as a deeply human experience with potential.
If this resonates with you, you can explore more of his approach in his book Thriving with Anxiety, or in our interview here, where he shares practical ways to transform your relationship with it.
Anxiety is a normal human emotion. When you learn to meet it with neutrality, rather than fear or resistance, it becomes easier to move through life with a sense of flow and ease. Anxiety is often simply a messenger, pointing toward something on the horizon that is asking for your awareness and intention.
With Love and Peace
Dr. Lenka Schulze
Sources:
Thriving With Anxiety, by Dr. David Rosmarin
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