A Life Changing Quote About Anxiety

Occasionally I come across quotes that eventually change me. They physically burrow their way through my brain via creating new neural pathways. With these new pathways, I’m able to see the world in new ways. I’d like to share the latest quote that started as a simmer, and is now boiling over into a compulsion to share its impact on me.

Dr. Emily Anhalt was visiting her extremely ill mother in the hospital. Dr. Anhalt was riddled with anxiety and worry about the future. Her mother was foundational to her life, and going on without her was now a new terrifying prospect. A family friend visited her that day. He was an oncologist with decades of experience with death and loss. Dr Anhalt asked him, “what on earth am I going to do if she dies? How am I going to live?”

The oncologist replies:

If that terrible thing happens, a version of you will be born into existence that will handle that event. The reason you’re scared is because that version of you doesn’t exist yet.

What really stuck out to me was, “a version of you will be born into existence”.

This quote is so incredibly powerful. It’s a reminder that peace only lives in the present, and the key to unlocking that peace is trusting your future self.

Dr. Anhalt’s mother lived and made it out. She was suffering ultimately for something that never came to pass. She added:

We rush out to meet our suffering.

If you struggle with anxiety, being present, or worrying about the future, I hope this quote helps provide a new framework for grounding yourself.

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