by Dan Stelter

Created on: April 20, 2009   Last Updated: April 21, 2009

All societies have their own cliches, which reflect commonly-held beliefs of most people. Some turn out to seem true, while others turn out to be false. Here is another one that seems to be true, at least in the case of anxiety anyway: "run toward the roar."

This cliche demonstrates a very simple concept, namely that whatever situation it is that causes one's anxiety to escalate, that is the situation that one needs to attack aggressively. In the case of social anxiety, for example, if one begins to feel extremely anxious around women, what he needs to do is talk to women as best as he can. Or, if it is speaking in front of groups of strangers, that person needs to continually engage in public speaking, if it is a part of life that he or she wants to improve.

Risk-taking, which seems to be looked down upon in American society, is something that one needs to engage upon on a regular basis. Those who stay at home and "play it safe" are the ones who are not rewarded and who will make the least progress. Those who get out there and continually fail, yet keep trying, are the ones who will make the most progress.

Running towards the roar is not something that is easy to do, and neither will one be able to do it perfectly; sometimes the anxiety will be so overwhelming and so powerful, and the person will be so stressed and burned out from having taken so many risks in the recent past that maybe for today, it is time to run towards a break or vacation, rather than towards the roar. Not only is this okay, but it is very necessary if one expects to remain sane.

In terms of numbers, how much confrontation is enough, and how little confrontation is too little to be effective in reducing anxiety? This is very difficult to figure out. If one plans to talk to one different person each day of the week, but only successfully attempts conversation three times, is this sufficient? It seems so, even though the majority of the time this person is not making the attempt.

It also depends on one's goals for recovering from anxiety. Some people want to become socialites and extroverts, while others would be happier just being able to drive to the store and talk to the clerk very briefly. There is no one ideal lifestyle; all different types of people are needed in order to make the world function. If there is an ideal, it would be that each person in recovery seeks to eliminate all unnecessary anxiety, which would make life the happiest and most relaxing. What is happy and relaxing can vary widely from person to person, and if one is happy staying home most days of the week and reading a book, that is just fine.

Overall, to run toward the roar is one cliche that every anxiety-sufferer needs to engage in if he or she is to recover from anxiety. While what "roars" at the individual can be very different by person, and while running towards the roar will enable anxiety-sufferers to end up doing many different things in life, it is one way of thinking that is very beneficial to every anxiety sufferer in some way, shape, or form. Good luck fellow anxiety sufferers as you embark upon your journey through recovery!

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