Linking A nxiety, Emotion, and Mindfulness 27
How can emotions be so double- natured? It’s true that tem-
porary fear occurring in the context of a menacing animal or
a loud noise is the sort of thing that can help you avoid real
danger. But some occurrences of dread and apprehension
thwart people’s efforts to maintain normal, happy lives. Part
of the reason for this comes from the distinction we just
made between anxiety and fear. Certain manifestations of
and responses to emotion, which have a great deal to do with
what makes us all human, can interfere with quality of life
and cause significant distress.
Human beings possess very complex intellectual and
cognitive faculties. One consequence of this is that we are
able to assign metaphorical significance to a variety of situa-
tions and think in abstract terms about future events. Often,
we can “perceive” a possible threat when that threat isn’t
necessarily forthcoming. It’s not as if we are conjuring up
monsters, but our minds are designed to be overly cautious
in appraising threat. As the saying goes, “Better safe than
sorry.” Better to plan everything out beforehand and be on
guard for a worst- case scenario.
We all know there’s uncertainty in the world and in our
future, and anxiety is our way of preparing for it. The
problem with extreme forms of anxiety is that they encour-
age you to overestimate the likelihood of a disaster. As we
mentioned before, anxiety can lead you to believe that even
the most benign situation involves a threat. To return to the
example of public speaking, the truth is that more often than
not, at least half of your audience wouldn’t notice or care
about minor blunders and the exact content of whatever you
were saying. W hen you feel “on the spot” to such a great
extent that you believe people are scrutinizing and analyz-
ing every aspect of your performance and appearance,