The School of Anxiety is The School of Greatness

H

how can a man come to know himself never

by thinking but by doing try to do your

duty and you will know at once what you

are worth

reflection and introspection can teach

us who we are other people can teach us

what is possible but only through action

can we create a life worth living do the

work then step back the only path to

serenity but here's where most of us

struggle we discover a way to a better

future but at the decisive moment when

bold action or hard work is called for

we shirk from our duty and hide behind a

wall of excuses

tomorrow we tell ourselves but tomorrow

remains as today

søren kierkegaard the 19th century

Danish philosopher saw only one way out

of this predicament if we wish to escape

from a life of passivity stagnation or

mediocrity we must be willing to attend

what he called the school of anxiety for

anxiety according to Kierkegaard is a

Janus faced phenomenon it has a demonic

side which can ruin our life but it also

has a constructive side that can guide

us toward the development of a greater

self which of these two faces it will

show depends to a large degree on how we

approach the anxiety eliciting

situations of our life to understand the

role that anxiety plays in

self-development we must recognize that

as humans we are placed in a unique

predicament unlike all other creatures

who are ruled by instinct and necessity

we must contend with our freedom we can

use our imagination to create new

possibilities and we can project ourself

into these alternative futures to see

where they lead choosing among the paths

of the possible and then taking the

steps toward actualizing these

possibilities is what leads to self

creation and according to Kierkegaard it

is self creation that is the ultimate

task of man the distinctive

characteristic of the human being wrote

ruled o'may in contrast to the merely

vegetative or the merely animal lies in

the range of human possibility and in

our capacity for self-awareness of

possibility Kierkegaard sees man is a

creature who has continually beckoned by

possibility who conceives of possibility

visualizes it and by creative activity

carries it into actuality

the problem that we all face is which of

the paths through the possible should we

choose if our goal is to live a

fulfilling life then one of the surest

ways to accomplish this is to orient our

self creation around the ideal of

self-realization we need to choose the

possibilities that permit the

progressive unfolding of our potentials

and that allow us to use our developed

capacities in a self expressive and

creative manner how each person self

realizes will differ in its particular

x' but there is a general formula that

can lead us in this direction some have

said follow your bliss others have said

find a passion Kierkegaard would say

follow your anxiety possibility means I

can wrote Kierkegaard in a logical

system it is convenient enough to say

that possibility passes over into

actuality in reality it is not so easy

and an intermediate determinant is

necessary this intermediate determinant

is anxiety each step on the path to

self-realization is patterned the same

envision a possibility that could

further our self creation experience the

anxiety that accompanies the prospect of

moving forward into an unpredictable and

open-ended future but move forward

regardless if the possibilities we are

unfolding in our life are free of the

intermediate determinant of anxiety this

is not a sign of mental health but

instead suggests that we are living in a

manner that betrays our potential the

capacity to bear anxiety wrote Rollo May

is important for the individual self

realization and for his conquest of his

environment each person experiences

continual shocks and threats to his

existence indeed self actualization

occurs only at the price of moving ahead

despite such shocks this indicates the

constructive use of anxiety

unfortunately most people do not use

anxiety in this constructive manner

instead many of us do all we can to flee

from our anxiety some of us will go as

far as to delude ourselves with the

claim that we don't even desire a

greater life in that comfort and

security our best in these uncertain

times but what is overlooked at the

moment of such a decision is the

totality of what has been chosen for in

refusing

to move into the possibilities that make

us anxious we have made a Faustian

bargain we gained some temporary comfort

and avoiding the challenge and we remove

the chance for failure that comes with

each step on the path of

self-realization but we do so at a great

cost for these trivial gains pale in

comparison to the suffering we set

ourselves up for when we refuse a

wholehearted participation in the

process of our creation

when a person sacrifices his right to

self-expression for the sake of survival

his very survival is endangered wrote

Alexander Lowen not from without but

from within with the surrender of the

right to self-expression the meaning of

life is lost this is not a psychological

phenomenon only self-expression is the

direct and immediate manifestation of

the life force in an individual

self-expression is equivalent to life

expression and a life that isn't

expressed isn't being lived that leads

to a slow death Carl Jung echoes Loen

sentiments suggesting that those who

refuse to launch out into life must

commit a partial suicide we must kill

off the side of our self that desires

self-realization and we must kill off

the side of our self that envisions the

possibilities of a greater life in

making this choice we retreat further

and further into a shell of an ever

constricting comfort zone and as low in

rights this shell eventually becomes a

tomb the situation is truly tragic to

break out of the shell is to risk death

but to stay in the shell which is a

living death threatens one also with

actual death more inevitable but slower

what separates those who escape from

this tragic state from those who remain

trapped in it to their dying breath

several factors seem particularly

important firstly we have to accept that

action can be taken in the face of

anxiety and there are countless examples

of people who do this on a consistent

basis believing that we must rid

ourselves of anxiety before acting only

breeds weakness constant procrastination

and a potential dependence on drugs or

alcohol a second factor that is integral

to breaking out of our shell is the

recognition that it is up to us to do

this no one can move through our anxiety

for us

no one

can actualize our potential no one can

save us Nathaniel Branden a 20th century

psychotherapist suggested that one of

the most positive prognostic signs among

his patients was the full acceptance of

this fact one of the most important

revelatory moments wrote Brandon is when

the client grasps that no one is coming

no one is coming to save me no one is

coming to make life right for me no one

is coming to solve my problems if I

don't do something nothing is going to

get better

the dream of a rescuer who will deliver

us may offer a kind of comfort but it

leaves us passive and powerless we may

feel if only I suffer long enough if

only I yearn desperately enough somehow

a miracle will happen but this is the

kind of self-deception one pays for with

one's life as it drains away into the

abyss of unredeemable possibilities and

irretrievable days months decades but

there is a final factor we must discuss

that in the end may prove most decisive

in our attempts to escape from a passive

and mediocre existence can we tap into

that side of our being that craves

disorder chaos and destruction can we

access what Carl Jung called our shadow

a dim premonition wrote Jung tells us

that we cannot be whole without this

negative side that we have a body which

like all bodies casts a shadow and that

if we deny this body we cease to be

three-dimensional and become flattened

without substance yet this body is a

beast with a beast soul an organism that

gives unquestioning obedience to

instinct to unite oneself with this

shadow is to say yes to instinct to that

formidable dynamism lurking in the

background in the moments when our life

hangs in the balance and we have the

choice of avoiding yet again or moving

forward it is often not wisdom that will

push us to take the risk

nor the weighing of pros and cons

instead it is something instinctual it

is this formidable dynamism lurking

within the shadow side of our being can

impel us to act even when our reasoning

tries to pull us back and our instincts

are at times wiser than our cognitions

for life needs disorder in order to

beget greater forms of self-organization

and destruction is often necessary to

make way for the new

saying yes to our shadow side to the

side of us that craves chaos maybe what

is needed for those who have lived for

too many years around the ideals of

safety security and comfort and who have

for too long being trapped in a small

life because of the refusal to take the

bold risks that life requires for

believe me wrote Nietzsche the secret

for harvesting from existence the

greatest fruitfulness and the greatest

enjoyment is to live dangerously

you