Handling Anxiety and Building Resilience
Some real-world ways to confront and conquer your fear
May 30, 2025
Anxiety doesn’t always show up as a panic attack or a loud cry for help. Sometimes, it’s the quiet undercurrent of dread that buzzes beneath the surface of your day. It lingers behind your eyes when you’re pretending everything’s fine, or it tightens your chest just before a meeting or phone call. And while you might not be able to flip a switch and make it vanish, you can absolutely learn how to manage it—and even come out stronger on the other side. Mental resilience isn’t a rare superpower; it’s a practiced skill that grows when you give yourself the tools and space to adapt, bend, and recover.
Naming emotions without judgment
One of the most underrated but effective things you can do is simply name what you’re feeling without lacing it with judgment. That creeping nervousness about tomorrow’s deadline? That’s anxiety. That heaviness that feels like gravity doubled overnight? Maybe that’s your brain’s way of waving a flag. When you label your emotions, you take away some of their power; they go from being mysterious forces to things you can actually confront. This isn’t about obsessing over every fleeting mood—just recognizing patterns so they stop running the show in the background.
No romanticizing busyness
The culture of overwork and burnout loves to reward people who never take a break. But anxiety feeds off chaos, and a non-stop lifestyle gives it plenty to chew on. You don’t win anything by never resting—except more stress and a shorter fuse. Slowing down isn’t laziness; it’s a way to tell your nervous system that the world isn’t always on fire, and it can let its guard down. Build a rhythm into your life that includes actual downtime, not just scrolling through your phone between obligations.
Learning as a lifeline
When your anxiety stems from uncertainty about your professional path, diving into a focused educational program can shift your mindset from overwhelmed to empowered. Gaining new skills gives you a sense of traction, especially when you’re aiming for a specific industry. For example, if you dream of a tech career, a degree in computer science can help you build your skills in AI along with IT, programming, and computer science theory. Thanks to the flexibility of virtual learning, you can even earn a computer science degree online while balancing a job, giving you room to grow without derailing your income or responsibilities.
Rituals over routines
Routines are fine, but rituals carry meaning—and that meaning can become an anchor in uncertain waters. Whether it’s making tea in silence, stretching for five minutes before bed, or stepping outside to breathe before work, these small intentional acts help create a sense of safety. Anxiety often thrives in unpredictability, and rituals bring a whisper of stability even when the rest of life feels chaotic. They don’t have to be elaborate or impressive, they just need to matter to you.
Your body is not the enemy
It’s easy to get mad at your own body when it shakes, sweats, or goes numb with fear. But those reactions are survival tools your brain thinks you still need. The trick is to remind your body—in a language it understands—that it’s safe. That means getting up and moving, even if it’s a slow walk. It means breathing deep into your belly, not your chest. Treat your body like a partner, not a problem, and you’ll find it starts to respond with less panic and more peace.
Shrinking the problem, not the response
It’s tempting to downplay your worries because they don’t seem as serious as someone else’s. But your brain doesn’t care about global comparisons, it cares about what feels threatening to you. Instead of trying to convince yourself that your anxiety is “irrational,” ask what it’s trying to protect you from. That doesn’t mean the threat is real, but the fear is. By acknowledging it without dismissing it, you allow yourself to process rather than suppress.
Resilience is built in the boring moments
People often think resilience comes from big, dramatic breakthroughs or bouncing back from tragedy. But most of it is built in quiet, boring moments—when you show up to therapy even though you don’t feel like talking, or you make a decent dinner instead of skipping meals again. These aren’t glamorous wins, but they are the foundation of emotional endurance. Every time you choose something that supports your mental health, no matter how small, you’re adding to your capacity to withstand what comes next.
Ask for backup
Strength doesn’t mean doing everything alone. In fact, trying to white-knuckle your way through anxiety in silence only makes it worse. Whether it’s a trusted friend, a therapist, a support group, or even a well-timed conversation with someone who just gets it — asking for help is an act of wisdom, not weakness. It says you value your mental health enough to give it the reinforcement it deserves. No one builds resilience in a vacuum; even the strongest minds need a lifeline sometimes.
Managing anxiety and building mental resilience isn’t about becoming untouchable or numb. It’s about being able to feel things without getting swept away, having shaky days without losing your footing entirely. You’re not building a steel wall, you’re weaving a tighter, more flexible thread through your life, one that can bend without snapping. And that work? It’s not something you finish. It’s something you grow into, slowly, day by day, decision by decision, moment by grounded moment.
(Greer, South Carolina-based Laura Carlson is the creator behind Endurabilities. She became disabled after a car accident when she was 13 years old. Today, her life’s calling is helping those who’ve experienced similar traumas. In addition to heading up a support group for people who are coping with a traumatic life transition like she experienced, she created Endurabilities as a way to let people know that they can endure any health condition by taking the best care of themselves they can. Contact her via her website, www.endurabilities.com.)