Anxiety: My Best Friend and My Worst Enemy

By: Isabela Frias

Anxiety. I can’t exactly describe my relationship with it. It’s truly my best friend and my worst enemy. It is the feeling that pushes me to prepare, to plan, to excel. It is also the storm that drowns me in overthinking, in self-doubt, in the fear of things that may never happen. We all know anxiety is essential to survival. It’s the internal alarm system that has kept us alive as a species, the instinct that helps us navigate dangerous situations and make decisions that protect us from harm. Without anxiety, I might not be here, completing my fourth year of university. I might not have pushed myself to excel in my classes or reach for opportunities outside of my comfort zone. But just as much as anxiety has propelled me forward, it has also held me back, making me question every move, every outcome, every interaction.

When I think of my anxiety, I don’t just picture the jittery orange creature from Inside Out—though I’ll admit, that portrayal has felt weirdly accurate at times. No, my anxiety is something greater, something more all-consuming. It is both the shadow that isolates me and the force I can’t seem to let go of, because, in many ways, I need it.

For a long time, I saw anxiety as something to fight, something to silence. But resisting it only made it stronger. The moment I decided to shift my perspective and view my anxiety as an ally, as a force that could work for me rather than against me, everything began to feel lighter. I started to see it as the drive behind my ambition, the reason I triple-check my work, the force that pushes me to be thorough, aware, and prepared for every possible scenario—or even, at times, the seemingly impossible ones.

About a year ago, I started listening to Mel Robbins, and her insights changed the way I look at anxiety. She’s not just a renowned American author, podcast host, and TEDx speaker—she feels like a mentor I’ve never met, someone whose words have reshaped my perspective. One of my favourite episodes of her podcast, The Truth About Anxiety and How To Heal It: Tools for Anxiety From a Neuroscientist MD, features Dr. Russell Kennedy, a neuroscientist and medical doctor. In that episode, Mel dives deep into the idea of anxiety as an "alarm" within the body, a signal of unresolved emotional wounds rather than just something to fear or suppress. Instead of treating anxiety as the enemy, she encourages us to recognize it, understand its messages, and work through its root causes.

One of the most impactful techniques Robbins shares is the "slithering" method, recommended by her therapist. This somatic technique involves fully embracing that heaviness in the morning—letting it pull you down before using movement to release that heaviness stored in the body and guiding you out of bed. It’s a way of physically processing what our minds try so hard to suppress, turning that weight into forward motion. At first, it sounded unusual, but I was able to appreciate the visuals of this technique. The imagery of anxiety making you feel heavy enough to slither onto the floor, yet also being the force that pushes you up to face the day, resonates deeply. Anxiety, when harnessed, can be a tool. It keeps us alert, sharp, and ready. But it takes practice to differentiate between helpful anxiety and the kind that hinders us. I’ve learned that instead of letting anxiety dictate my life, I can acknowledge it, listen to it, and then choose how much power I give it. It’s a constant process—some days are easier than others—but with time, I’ve realized that anxiety isn’t just my worst enemy; it’s also my greatest motivator.

To those who, like me, live with anxiety, if you can take one thing from this blog it's this:

don’t fight it, understand it. Let it guide you but not control you. Because when you learn to

work with anxiety instead of against it, you may just find that it’s been pushing you toward

your best self all along.