When is anxiety helpful in our lives? How can we tell the difference between anxiety and concern? What part do fear and worry play overall? Many of my friends and Medium readers ask, “Isn’t anxiety sometimes useful? Don’t I need to worry about possible problems?”

In one of my articles on anticipatory anxiety, I explain how our brains are made to anticipate problems so we can solve them. 

In this article, I’ll help you understand the difference between productive worry, useful concern, and the kind of anxiety that keeps you up at night, makes you overthink, and makes you unhappy.

I went swimming recently and wanted to share an article with you all. So, I’m here to talk about fear and anxiety. 

I’ve been writing articles about them, explaining their differences. I hope you’ve had a chance to read them.

Having a swim here in Sukabumi City on this nice day, I’ve been thinking a lot about fear. My fear of swimming has gotten stronger over time. 

In August 2023, I hurt my knee pretty badly while swimming at the beach. My family and a few friends know about it. Now, I’m more worried about drowning, so I’m being extra careful in the water.

As I thought about the word “fear,” I remembered my article talking about fear versus anxiety. In it, I describe fear as that rush of adrenaline when something scary happens it’s like you’re focused, ready to react, muscles tense. But anxiety is different. 

It’s when you worry about what might happen. Here I am at the pool, thinking about this. If I let these thoughts overwhelm me, I know I’m feeling anxious.

Finding balance between fear and concern

Lots of people might say, “I’m more scared of swimming now.” But I don’t think that’s exactly it. Fear’s a common word, but talking it over with my best friend, we liked “concern” better. 

I’m just more careful about drowning now. Makes sense ’cause I’m only swim about two weeks a month. Plus, last year’s I had that accident.

Now, I’m being more cautious, which is okay as long as it doesn’t stop me. I’m going to attempt this challenging swim, so let’s see if I can describe the view. There are plenty of waves, but it’s truly stunning out here.

Facing such a tough swim, fear tends to hold me back. But then I realized, “This concern keeps me alert and cautious, yet I don’t want it to tense up my muscles and ruin my flow in the water.” 

I’m sharing this because people often wonder, “Can anxiety ever go away? Isn’t it sometimes beneficial?” Sure, being cautious is wise, but drowning in anxiety and fear isn’t helpful.

Managing Worry and Relaxation in Daily Tasks

I’ve got more to say about breathing, I cut through the waves about a third of the way from the beach. I’ve done it before, but I’m being a bit more careful now. 

You know, when we’re swimming or even here in Sukabumi City, a little concern is helpful. Like when you cross the street, it keeps you alert. 

Those sidewalks are not great, but with people bustling about, you’ve got to stay vigilant. 

Sure, it’s important to be cautious, but if it starts causing all those physical symptoms like tense muscles, headaches, stomach aches and that’s when it becomes unhelpful. 

It’s good to be attentive, but don’t let it hold you back. In my article, I talk about how I learned to relax a bit more during swimming. Even though I stayed focused, it made the experience much smoother.

Finding Balance, Dealing with Avoidance and Anxiety

Avoiding things can make our anxiety worse. For me, skipping swimming or avoiding rough waves just makes me more worried. 

When we avoid stuff, we miss out on chances to deal with them later. But if you don’t like swimming and skip it, that’s okay — no stress there.

It’s fine to avoid stuff we don’t like, but it’s a problem when we need to deal with them or when avoiding them messes up our daily life. Avoiding stuff that doesn’t really matter isn’t a big deal. 

But lots of people worry about avoiding things.

Let me know if this talk about avoiding things makes sense to you and how you deal with being worried but not too much. Do you really need to worry that much? Can you handle it in a calmer way? Remember, solutions often come to us when we’re relaxed.

Tell me about times when you’ve found answers unexpectedly because you were relaxed.

I hope you found this article interesting and useful.

Thanks for reading! Please take a moment to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. Don’t forget to share if you found it informative ❤

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