If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably learned 2 very obvious things about me: I suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and I have a THING for quotes. I spend a few hours each week searching for the best inspirational and motivational quotes to share on my stories, and I start (almost) every single post with a quote that captures whatever message I’m trying to convey as I share bits and pieces of my life. In recent months, I’ve found myself sharing a lot of anxiety quotes to help me sort through all of the highs and lows that go along with GAD, and since they resonate so deeply with my followers, I decided to gather together some of my favorites.
I have been collecting quotes for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I had a notebook I wrote all of my favorite quotes in, and whenever I had a bad day at work or was going through a tough time with a friend or boyfriend, I’d crank some tunes, pour myself some wine, and search for inspirational quotes online. I always found it therapeutic, and I guess I still do!
If you’re looking for anxiety quotes, here are 39 of my favorites which I find helpful in calming the physical symptoms of anxiety, keeping my mind focused and in the present, and challenging distorted thinking.
What is Anxiety?
There are many different ways to define anxiety, and if I was asked to give my own definition, I’d say it’s the natural reaction our bodies have to a stressful event or situation. We all experience anxiety to some degree at various times throughout our lives – on the first day of school, when we start a new job, or when we do something outside of our comfort zone – but when the feelings are extreme, last longer than they should, and/or interfere with our ability to function each day, it can be a sign that we are suffering from an anxiety disorder.
What are the Symptoms of Anxiety?
Anxiety can manifest itself in many different ways. Some people display a lot of symptoms and their anxiety is obvious, whereas others may internalize their feelings, making a diagnosis more difficult. Some of the common symptoms of anxiety include:
- Excessive worry and/or irrational fears
- Feeling restless, agitated, and/or irritable
- Digestive issues
- Difficulty falling and/or staying asleep
- Fatigue
- Difficulty concentrating
- Panic attacks
- Rapid heart rate
- Chest pains
- Breathing fast (sometimes hyperventilation)
- Feeling too cold or too hot
- Feeling weak, dizzy, shaking, etc.
Please remember that this isn’t an exhaustive list. If you suspect you suffer from anxiety, it’s important to speak to your doctor to confirm your symptoms aren’t a sign of a different condition, and to discuss appropriate treatment options.
39 Anxiety Quotes to Calm Your Mind and Body
No amount of anxiety can change the future. No amount of regret can change the past.
-Karen Salmansohn
Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.
-Charles Spurgeon
Work on being in love with the person in the mirror who has been through so much but is still standing.
-Unknown
Don’t believe every worried thought you have. Worried thoughts are notoriously inaccurate.
-Renee Jain
You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.
-Olin Miller
Trust yourself. You’ve survived a lot, and you’ll survive whatever is coming.
-Robert Tew
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
-Maya Angelou
Anxiety’s like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far.
-Jodi Picoult
Stress is an ignorant state. It believes everything is an emergency.
-Natalie Goldberg
You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.
-Brian Tracy
Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.
-Deepak Chopra
Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.
-William James
We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.
-Roderick Thorp
Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.
-Swedish Proverb
You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.
-Steve Maraboli
When you’re feeling anxious, remember that you’re still you. You are not your anxiety.
-Deanne Repich
Whether you think you can or think you can’t— you are right.
-Henry Ford
Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff.
-Robert Eliot
Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.
-Walter Anderson
If you’re going through hell keep going.
-Winston Churchill
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes…including you.
-Anne Lamott
If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.
-Steven Hayes
Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it.
-Brian Tracy
For fast acting relief, try slowing down.
-Lily Tomlin
A day of worrying is more exhausting than a week of work.
-John Lubbock
Act the way that you want to feel.
-Gretchen Rubi
You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.
-Dan Millman
Life is not a dress rehearsal. Every day, you should have at least one exquisite moment.
-Sally Karioth
Don’t stress the could haves, if it should have, it would have.
-Unknown
Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.
-Oprah Winfrey
You don’t gain anything from stressing. Remember that.
-Unknown
A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you.
-Joyce Meyer
Breathe. It’s just a bad day, not a bad life.
-Unknown
Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
-Benjamin Franklin
A pleasure a day keeps stress away.
-Ethel Roskies
Trying to control uncertainty in your life will relieve anxiety today but increase anxiety tomorrow.
-Unknown
Trust yourself. You’ve survived a lot, and you’ll survive whatever is coming.
-Robert Tew
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
I hope these anxiety quotes inspire you as much as they continue to inspire me!
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