The Antidote to Anxiety

art of encore living personal development Apr 10, 2023
Scott Perry Promoting a Blog Post about the antidote to anxiety

The second half of life can be a time of high anxiety due to uncertainty and fear about what the future holds.

And...

It can be a time of reflection, introspection, and a renewed sense of purpose.

But how do you reconcile these competing dynamics and create asymmetry to the upside of a second half of life that's more fulfilling and joyful?

Turns out that the antidote to anxiety is simply, well, less anxiety.

A significant contributor to anxiety is a brain chemical called norepinephrine.

When you're under stress, this chemical triggers the amygdala, the home of our fight or flight response, resulting in fear-based behavior.

Here's something interesting, in lower doses, norepinephrine triggers a very different response from our prehistoric brain—curiosity.

Curiosity makes us more excited and arouses our instinct to explore.

But how do we move from anxiety to curiosity?

When I feel anxiety coming on, I practice a 3-second exercise of asking, "Isn't that interesting...?" 

Asking this question creates a pause in my anxiety doom loop and allows me to zoom out, get curious, explore the legitimacy of my fear, and treat the uncertainty of what's next as a playful experiment.

What about you? How do you notice, name, and navigate the second half of life's inevitable anxieties?

What are some ways that you cultivate your curiosity?


Scott Perry, Encore Life Coach at Creative on Purpose

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