"Will I Be OK?" Yes, You Will Be. Here Is Why.

Yes. You will be okay. It may not feel that way right now, and the road may still have a few bumps in it, but this hard stretch is not the end of your story.

No matter where you are right now, you will make it. Things will get better, one way or another. It may not feel that way for a while. Hang in there anyway. Things will look up again.

And you are not alone. Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in the world; the World Health Organization estimates around 470 million people lived with an anxiety disorder in 2023. If you are not feeling OK, countless others know something of what you are going through right now. And just like them, you will be OK.

Pause and breathe first

Before you read further, we want you to pause and take five deep breaths.

Put your hand over your heart, close your eyes and repeat, “I am going to be okay.” Repeat as many times as you need. Stop when you feel a little better and the affirmation has begun to sink in.

If that didn't help, put on a song that lifts you and let it play while you read the rest of this.

Why does uncertainty feel so exhausting?

Uncertainty can reach into every area of our lives: finances, health, careers, relationships, and more. It is hard to make plans, or even feel a sense of normalcy, when so much seems up in the air. For one reason or another, all of us have wondered if we will be OK.

Living in a constant state of worry when you are holding your life together at the seams is exhausting. This is especially true when you feel that everything will be ruined if you let go or forget a single step.

When we live like this, our body can stay stuck in survival mode. Mayo Clinic explains that when stress never lets up, the body's fight-or-flight reaction stays switched on, and over time that can wear on sleep, mood and health. Rest and repair get harder. And when our health suffers, it can add another financial and emotional burden to an already overwhelming life.

So start small. Pick one worry that keeps circling today and write it down. Getting it out of your head and onto paper won't solve it, but it gives your mind permission to stop rehearsing it for a while.

Let yourself not be OK

While we are proponents of looking at the glass half full, we also believe in accepting what we are experiencing. It’s OK not to be OK. We can be not OK and still have faith in ourselves to find a way out of the situation we are in.

Simply accepting that we are going through a tough time can be helpful, even freeing. Even if nothing in your life changes, acceptance can release some energy and make space for healing to move into your life. Try saying it plainly, out loud or in your journal: “This is hard right now, and that's allowed.”

If you want more on this, our piece on accepting chaos to find inner calm goes a little deeper.

Here are a few more reasons why you will be OK:

You are acknowledging that something does not feel right

When things don’t go our way, we often bottle up our feelings or try to sweep them under the rug. While this may work for a while, things often explode in a big way when you are triggered. But by allowing yourself to feel and acknowledge the anxiety, you are facing it head-on.

Give it a name. Finish this sentence: “Right now, I feel ___ because ___.” That one line is already you facing it.

You are here

The very fact that you are here and reading this article means you will be OK. It means that either you actively looked for help or someone who cares for you sent it to you. It means you are willing to make an effort to feel better.

Don’t take the small wonders and gestures for granted. If someone sent you this, send them a short thank you today. Good things are aligning for you already.

You are taking one step at a time

Sometimes tiny baby steps. But you are making your way. Slowly but surely. It may not seem like you are making much progress, but you are heading in the right direction.

Just keep at it. Choose the next step that is small enough to do today, even if it is only making your bed or answering one email, and let that count.

You are outside your comfort zone

Yet you are trying your best to work through it. Being outside our comfort zone can teach us what we are capable of and help us grow.

Tonight, write down one thing you did this week that felt hard or scary. Look at it. You did that.

You are looking at setbacks as learnings

As hard as things are right now, just asking yourself, “What did I learn from this experience?” helps change our perspective. When we look at the things that are causing us anxiety, we learn from them. Even if those challenges do not inspire us, they give us experience. There is no guarantee that you can avoid anxious situations in the future, but the experience teaches us how to manage them better.

Difficult experiences can also make us more empathetic and understanding. When you go through a difficult experience, you can understand and relate to others better. And that helps them when they are going through a tough time of their own.

If you want a few practical ways to get back up, start with our guide to getting through tough times with resilience.

You are taking your time

When we rush through an experience because it's uncomfortable, we often miss the opportunity for growth. Problems can reveal something we need to notice. If we take one mindful moment in the middle of our anxiety, we may be able to see it. This does not come naturally to any of us, and it is hard to find meaning in anything when we are just trying to survive.

All we can do is take our time. Try to stay with this moment so you can rest, heal, and begin again.

You are changing your vibe

Gently changing a negative thought pattern can make a meaningful difference. This small change may not show results right away, but it adds up over time, and the anxious thoughts can start to lose some of their grip.

Try this: when you catch a thought like “I can't handle this,” add a second half to it. “I can't handle this, and I'm handling it anyway, one hour at a time.”

You are paying attention to self-talk

The way we talk to ourselves shapes much of how we experience life. Most of us find this hard to accept, and harder still to change. It is also difficult (and tiresome) to monitor your thoughts all day long. There is no device that can do it for you. That is why changing from within can feel so difficult.

This is also the reason many of us slip back into old habits. Our first attempts to change a habit are often motivated by external factors. For instance, if you have a personal trainer, you will work out regularly. But if you do not change the inner dialogue about working out, you will fall back into the old habits and quit working out the moment you don’t have a personal trainer.

So listen in, kindly. Once a day, notice one thing you said to yourself and ask whether you would say it to a friend. Our piece on the power of positive self-talk has more ways to practise.

And you will be okay

So next time you feel anxious about the future (or even the past or the present), remember you are on a journey. The purpose and meaning of life’s experiences are often revealed to us in hindsight. All you need to know is that you are not alone in this. And all you can do is keep taking the next small step. Everything else will fall into place over time.

If the worry doesn't ease, or it starts getting in the way of sleep, work or the people you love, please talk to your doctor or a therapist. Anxiety that sticks around is common and treatable, and asking for help is one of those small steps too.

We believe hard seasons pass, even the ones that feel endless from the inside. Hang in there. We are all in this together. And you will be okay.