Anxiety Challenge By Another Name By Jame Collier Analysis

Facing The Ice

“There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it”- Ovid

This quote means that one cannot achieve pleasure easily, they need anxiety to push one self to their limits and overcome ones fear. “Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name”, Collier uses his personal experience and proves that we can overcome anxiety. Personally I do agree with Collier since I had to face anxiety in a way I never expected.

In the article "Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name," Collier explains that anxiety is a very common part in our life and overcoming it is the only way we grow, instead of backing away. James uses personal experiences, and shows his audience how he faced his anxiety. He had learned lessons from facing those experiences. He was giving a chance to travel with his roommate to Argentina, to work on a ranch. Collier had turned down the offer, since he already had made plans to teach his brother to sail. Turning down this opportunity, Collier learned a valuable lesson and developed a rule for himself: “do what makes you anxious; don’t do what makes you depressed”.

When James was at graduate school, he began writing magazines articles and interviewing big names. Before each interview, he would get butterflies and his hands would start shaking. At one time, Collie had an interview with a musician that he admired, Duke Ellington. During the interview James had found out that Duke still has stage fright even though he has been performing for more than thirty years .He had benefited and discovered from a process psychologist call “ extinction “. Which brought up his second rule: “you’ll never eliminate anxiety by avoiding the things that cause it”

Through out his life, Collier was offered a writing assignment ...

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...I jumped on the boulder and there I stood one jump away from gaining back my popularity. Looking at the cold ice had already given me shiver. I counted to three and jumped, I had broken the ice feet first. Beneath the ice was dark and extremely cold. I wasn’t able to see anything; I was frightened that I wouldn’t find my way back. It was an unusual feeling, like time had stopped and everything was moving slow. I ran out of breath and eventually found my way back. The whole school assumed that I had died from coldness and wouldn’t come back up. After warming up, it was the new kids turn to jump. Everyone waited but he couldn’t jump he choked. I was glad and proud of myself for overcoming my anxiety. The quote by Amit Ray really inspired me and will never be forgotten: “If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”