Fear or Anxiety

Excerpt from Daily Cures, Wisdom for Healthy Aging by Connie Mason Michaelis

(article written in April of 2020)

Fear or Anxiety? I’ve heard it said that fear is the reaction to impending danger, but anxiety is the fear of fear. I am not a psychologist, but I am trying to figure out my response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Franklin D. Roosevelt’s inaugural address of 1933, he coined that memorable phrase, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Speaking during the Great Depression, he went on to say, “In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things.” How different it is today to be challenged on so many fronts. We have every reason to be afraid; there is an imminent danger! We are biologically wired with the fight or flight response. Fear plays a protective role, and we are engaged in a battle with an unseen enemy.

We’ve been instructed in specific ways to safeguard ourselves, and I’m assuming that we are all participating in those recommendations. So what is the lingering anxiety that we feel? For myself, I’m prone to dark scenarios in my mind. My anxiety arises from my imagination. Another name for anxiety is worry, and I know that worry is a waste of time. If anxiety arises from our own emotional response, as opposed to the actual danger, what are we to do?

We’ve all read suggestions for reducing stress, including meditation, prayer, going for a walk in nature, listening to music, turning off the news, etc. We’ve never experienced a universal fear like this, and we need to recognize the imminent dan- ger but also the health risk of being anxious. One possible remedy is the practice of gratitude. Many articles are wirtten on the benefit of a regular practice of gratefulness.

To paraphrase the Apostle Paul’s advice, don’t be anxious, be thankful. Let’s make a daily exercise of reminding ourselves how fortunate we are!