Most people don’t know real anxiety. Stop glorifying weakness and start building resilience—one uncomfortable step at a time.
Anxiety. The word alone seems to paralyze half the population these days. It’s tossed around like confetti, a convenient crutch, an excuse for inaction. “I can’t do this because of my anxiety.” “That stresses me out; my anxiety won’t let me.” Every corner of the internet echoes with the chorus of “anxiety this, anxiety that.” Here’s the cold, hard truth: most of you don’t know what anxiety really is. What you call “anxiety” is often just discomfort—a far cry from the relentless, crushing weight that real anxiety brings.
Let’s set the record straight. Anxiety isn’t feeling a little nervous before a presentation. It’s not being uneasy because your text message got left on “read.” Anxiety is being in the thick of chaos where survival isn’t guaranteed. It’s a soldier with mortar shells exploding around him, heart racing, mind screaming, yet still moving forward. It’s a firefighter rushing into a burning building, lungs filling with smoke, adrenaline barely holding back the fear of not coming back out. It’s a mother clutching her child in a war zone, hearing gunfire outside the window, praying for one more day of life. That’s anxiety. That kind of fear shakes you to your core and rewires your brain.
On the other hand, you had a tough day at work, and now you’re curled up in bed because you “can’t deal.” Let’s stop glorifying weakness and start calling things what they are. Discomfort isn’t anxiety. A challenge isn’t a trauma. Life being hard doesn’t mean you’re broken. It means you’re human. We’ve grown so soft that anything outside our convenience bubble feels unbearable. Newsflash: life isn’t supposed to be comfortable. Growth comes from pain. Strength comes from struggle. But you don’t get to those places if every slight inconvenience sends you running for the hills.
I’ve been in the thick of real anxiety. Picture this: downtown Indianapolis, 2020, the height of COVID-19 unrest. The streets were crawling with tension—threats in every shadow. The air buzzed with anger and desperation. My job was to hold the line and guard a building while people hurled everything from insults to projectiles. During one of those nights, I was stabbed. The pain was sharp and immediate, but I stayed on my feet, did my job, and kept that line secure. That’s what real anxiety looks like—staring down danger, feeling your heart race, and refusing to back down.
I’ve also had bullets fly past my head, close enough to feel their heat, while serving warrants, adrenaline surging as I kept pushing forward. Anxiety isn’t your body betraying you because Starbucks got your order wrong. It’s a predator waiting to pounce on any crack in your armor, and you have to stand tall anyway.
I’ve seen trauma firsthand. Real trauma, the kind that brands your soul. The kind that doesn’t just make you sweat a little—it changes you. Ask the combat vet who wakes up at 3 a.m., drenched in sweat, screaming at ghosts of a warzone. Ask the victim of a violent crime who can’t walk down the street without scanning every shadow for danger. That’s the kind of anxiety that deserves compassion, respect, and treatment. But when we lump those battles in with the everyday discomforts people now label as “anxiety,” we’re doing everyone a disservice.
What’s worse is how we’ve started to embrace this narrative that anxiety is an immovable obstacle. It’s not. Anxiety is a challenge—a brutal one, sure, but one that can be met head-on. Too many people treat it like a shield to hide behind. They use it to justify mediocrity, to opt out of life’s hard moments. “I have anxiety, so I can’t do that.” No. You won’t do that. And there’s a big difference. The moment you start using anxiety as an excuse, you let it own you. You hand over control to something that, with enough grit and work, you can overcome.
I get it—this probably stings to read. Good. It’s supposed to. Growth doesn’t come from comfort. Maybe this is the first time someone’s told you that your anxiety isn’t special and that it’s not an excuse to stop trying. Maybe it’s the first time someone told you that hat the only way out is through. Because that’s the truth, there’s no magic cure, no shortcut. You’ve got to face it, work through it, and, yes, suffer a bit. The more you do, the stronger you become. Avoidance only feeds the beast. Every time you let anxiety dictate your actions, you teach your brain to fear even more.
Do you know how you fight anxiety? You move. You act. You face the things that terrify you, one brutal step at a time. Are you scared to speak in public? Get up there and speak. Your heart will race, your palms will sweat, and you’ll probably stumble over your words. But you’ll survive. And the next time, it’ll be a little easier. Are you terrified of confrontation? Stop avoiding it. Look the person in the eye and say what needs to be said. It won’t kill you. It will make you stronger. Anxiety hates action because action takes away its power.
There’s a reason the strongest people you know have often faced the hardest challenges. It’s because they’ve walked through fire and come out tempered. Look at the people who’ve survived the unimaginable. Holocaust survivors. Prisoners of war. People who’ve lost everything and still found a way to rebuild. They don’t wear their anxiety as a badge of honor. They don’t use it as an excuse to sit down and quit. They face it, endure it, and move forward. They understand that life doesn’t owe them peace or comfort. They know that every moment of growth is paid for in sweat, pain, and resilience.
And let’s be real—most of the people reading this are not dealing with that level of hardship. You’re not dodging bullets. You’re not pulling children out of a burning building. You’re not living under the shadow of death. You’re stuck in your head, wrapped up in thoughts that feel overwhelming but aren’t insurmountable. The good news? You have the tools to fight this. You just need to use them.
Start small. Make your bed. Go for a run. Eat clean. Do the hard things you’ve been avoiding. Build discipline in the little areas of your life, and you’ll find that it spills over into the big ones. You don’t need to run into a warzone to prove you’re tough. Just stop letting anxiety run the show. You’re stronger than you think, but you’ll never know it if you keep retreating.
I’m not saying this to belittle your struggle. Anxiety is real, and it’s hard. But it’s also beatable. You don’t have to be a prisoner to it. You can fight back. You can build a life where anxiety doesn’t call the shots. But you’ve got to be willing to do the work. No excuses. No shortcuts. Just grit, determination, and a refusal to let fear win.
So stop. Stop using anxiety as an excuse to stay small. Stop glorifying weakness. Stop telling yourself you can’t because you can. It won’t be easy. It might take months, years, maybe even a lifetime. But every step you take forward is a victory. Every time you face your fears, you take back a little more control. Anxiety doesn’t define you. What you do with it does. So stand up, face the fight, and prove what you’re made of to yourself and the world. You’ve got this. Now go.
Stay disciplined. Stay resilient.
Jim Lunsford
Disclaimers:
Use of Artificial Intelligence: Jim Lunsford is committed to sharing authentic and meaningful content. To enhance the clarity and effectiveness of his writing, Jim utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tool in the content creation process. While AI assists in organizing and refining his ideas, every thought, insight, and story shared on this website is genuinely his own. The use of AI does not alter the authenticity of his work; rather, it helps Jim communicate more effectively with you, his audience. Jim's goal remains to inspire, motivate, and connect, and AI is simply a tool that supports that mission.
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