A Serendipitous Discovery That Helped Me Overcome My Anxiety Problem

During the 1990s, I was an unhappy person. In fact, I was so unhappy that I used to wonder if my life had any meaning. I still remember how I would wake up in the middle of the night and spend the rest of the nights worrying - worrying about my future, worrying about my past and the mistakes I had committed, and worrying about my unfulfilled dreams. This had been going on until 1995. One fine day, I decided that enough was enough and I should put a stop to my worrying nature. If I did not do it, I would go insane, I thought. But I did not know how I should go about this. It was then I serendipitously discovered a formula that would help me lead a worry-free life. 

It was not that I hit a jackpot and got troves of money that would solve all my financial woes. Neither did I get a magic wand that could drive out all the issues I was facing. But it was a chance meeting with one of my acquaintances that helped me make the discovery. 

I was having a casual chat with this person. During the chat, I found that he was an avid reader as I used to be. In fact, I was a voracious reader during my college days. Somehow, this habit fell by the wayside perhaps because of the issues I faced in my life. But my love for books was intact. So, my chat with this person was mainly about the books we had read and enjoyed. I did not know if he could understand that I was a worried person. I did not also know what prompted him to mention Dale Carnegie and his books and how these books could help people surmount their anxiety problems.

The next day, I made it a point to visit a bookstall to find out more about Dale Carnegie's books. Though I spotted two books, "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" and "How to Win Friends and Influence People" on the shop's rack, I zeroed in on the former book because I thought it would help me overcome my anxiety problem. I had just enough money for buying the book which meant that I would not be able to take a bus for returning home. I still do not know what inspired me to decide to buy the book. I walked all the way back to my house. 

The book taught me several things. But the main lesson I learned and I still use is: I have to "live in the moment." I should not think either of my past or of my future. As far as my past is concerned, it is dead and gone. As for the future, I do not know what is in store for me. So, there is no point in thinking about both. As Thomas Carlyle said, "Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand." This means I have to shut out my past as well as my future and focus on the task on my hand. Of course, I should plan for the future but I need not worry about it.

So, whenever anxiety is trying to over-power me, I remember the words of Horace, a Roman poet, who wrote:

Happy the man, and happy he alone,

He, who can call today his own,

He who, secure within, can say:

"Tomorrow, do thy worst, for I have lived today."