Anxiety has become my greatest professor. Anxiety has transformed me. Anxiety is transforming me. It is removing my heart of stone. And giving me a heart of flesh. My experience is that great love and great suffering transforms us the most. What if instead of getting rid of our anxiety, we leaned in and listened to what it is showing us? What if we went on the journey with it? What would we learn?

From guarantees to Hail Marys, I tried anything to turn down my anxiety. Some were helpful others were not. I’ve concluded: There is no magic bullet for anxiety. In my experience, it takes hard work over time to get inside, underneath, and on top of anxiety. And this difficult work has changed the way I see anxiety. And how we see anxiety can greatly effect how we experience anxiety.

Anxiety has been a part of my life since my earliest memories. I have not always known this. But now that I do, it helps resolve some of the disorientation and shame I carried for years. This week I want to share my experience with anxiety, more specifically living life with a panic disorder. Why now? Because we are living in the age of debilitating anxiety. And because exposing and normalizing anxiety helps reduce its power. Plus, I’ve been collecting tools, wisdom, stories, and practices that might just help reduce the anxiety in you. It all begins in a 1979 red Corvette.