How to Be Successful in Life

Many of the chronically anxious tend to worry that nothing will ever work out and that they are doomed to bland, meaningless, and otherwise lonely existences. No progress seems to be made and nothing seems to chance, except maybe perhaps one's personal level of misery. This is a very bleak and pessimistic view of life that many hold to be true, but fear not! Good reason exists for every anxiety sufferer to at least try and move forward in life.

So, why should those who are severely affected by social anxiety even bother to try to recover when the road seems narrow and filled with too many obstacles? The answer is very simple: those who apply themselves and who try to do something with their lives end up having all that they need.

Take a look at example number one: Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi was by all accounts a very anxious and reserved child. He was so severely anxious, in fact, that even as a young lawyer he was "...too shy to even speak in front of a judge..." (Rosenberg, 2004). Yet, despite his inability to speak confidently in front of people, he won his first case that later on sparked his successful campaign to liberate India (Rosenberg, 2004).

Now take a look at example number two: Mel Gibson was again a very shy and reserved child. But, who is he now today? He is a very rich and famous actor! One actress who knew Gibson from earlier in his acting career recalled him as being "very polite, self deprecating, shy, certainly talented and just a really nice person...even a little embarrassed about the whole acting thing" (Murray & Maddox, 2008). Besides being shy, Gibson was also diagnosed with with having bipolar disorder (Murray & Maddox, 2008).

The point to draw from these examples is that one does not have to reserve him or herself a life that is bleak, depressing, and miserable. Despite anxiety and whatever other problems or difficulties one might face, if one just makes his or her best effort to move forward in life, one will be just fine. These previous examples are on the extreme end of what happens when one attempts to take steps in the right direction. Just because one begins to move forward in life does not mean that he or she will be a billionaire or one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen, but it does mean that this person will have all the things that he or she needs to live a happy and healthy life - a significant relationship, friends, a job, and enough money to meet one's needs.

What matters is not the outcome of the situation, but the fact that one is making the attempt. Those who continually attempt to do the right thing and move forward in life will be rewarded; they may not be rewarded when they desire, but they will be rewarded at some point in time in their lives. The anxiety-sufferer often becomes to focused on the outcome and what he or she could have done to influence the outcome. This type of thinking does not help one to remedy the situation; it only increases feelings of self-blame, shame, and guilt, which are all feelings that increase anxiety.

If one looks at the previous two examples of a lawyer too shy to talk in front of a judge and another very shy child becoming a rich actor, the conclusion that can be drawn is that if something is meant to be, it is meant to be. In order to find out if something is meant to be or not, all one can do is give his or her best effort and let go of the outcome (see the Anxiety Support Network's Letting Go for more details on this).

So, for all those out there who have no hope or aim in life, take heart. Things will be okay. Right now, it is simply time to suck it up, forget about what happened in the past, and instead focus on what steps one can take to improve his or her life right now!

References

Murray, E. and Maddox, G. (2008). Mel Gibson tells of manic depression. The Sydney Morning Herald.
Retrieved May 4, 2009 from http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/mel-gibson-tells-of-manic-depression /2008/05/14/1210765011177.html

Rosenberg, J. Gandhi - Biography of Mahatma Gandhi. Retrieved May 4, 2009 from
http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/a/gandhi.htm