Gratitude and anxiety can coexist. This post shares how holding anxiety gently and practicing thankfulness can ground you, build resilience, and restore emotional balance.

For some of us, anxiety shows up first thing in the morning—sometimes before our feet even hit the floor. Our minds begin spinning: What do I have to do today? What if I don’t get it all done? These thoughts often come wrapped in expectations of how the day should go. And when things don’t go the way we expect, anxiety quickly shows up.

The more we fight anxiety, the stronger it pushes back—like trying to hold a beach ball underwater. We push it down, but it pops back up, sometimes even harder. There’s another way: learning to meet anxiety gently, with curiosity and gratitude.

Holding Anxiety Gently

Imagine anxiety as a small, frightened creature resting in your hands—a nervous little thing, unsure and trembling. Your first instinct might be to toss it away. But what if you held it softly instead, noticing it with curiosity and compassion?

Holding anxiety gently doesn’t mean liking it or wanting it to stay. It means recognizing it as a normal human feeling—one that shows up to protect you. When you stop fighting it, you are able to choose how you want to respond.

The Gratitude Connection

At first, gratitude and anxiety might seem like opposites. But they can exist together—and gratitude can change how anxiety feels. Gratitude can ground us in the present moment, where anxiety can stay in the background as we focus on what matters most in our lives.

When we pause to notice what we have—a safe home, a caring friend, the rhythm of our breath, the focus moves from what’s missing to what’s already here. Gratitude doesn’t erase anxiety; it can change our relationship with it. We can move from “Why me?” to “Is there something helpful here?”

Anchoring in Gratitude

When anxiety feels overwhelming, breathing practices can help you stay grounded.

• Try square breathing: inhale for four counts, hold for four, exhale for four, hold again for four.

• Picture tracing the sides of a square as you breathe.

This mindful practice can remind you that even in life’s storms, you can anchor yourself in the here-and-now. Gratitude reminds you that, even when life feels uncertain, you still have reasons to feel grounded and safe.

Hardships and Gratitude

Life’s hardest moments can become our greatest teachers. People who have faced challenges often develop empathy, patience, and compassion. Gratitude can help us see that even in pain, there can be meaning and growth.

When your mind says, If I didn’t have this anxiety, I’d be happier, pause and ask, What can I still appreciate right now? Maybe it’s your courage to keep going. Maybe it’s the people who support you. Gratitude reminds you that anxiety doesn’t define who you are—it simply shows that you care deeply.

You can start small:

• Smile at someone and notice how it feels.
• Take a deep breath and thank your body for carrying you.
• Write down one good thing that happened today. Reflect on it.

Gratitude can help us change the way we relate to anxiety and how we live with it. Gratitude can turn fear into presence and help us see that even when life feels uncertain, the sun still shines behind the clouds.

Ask yourself each day:

• What is one thing anxiety cannot take from me?
• How can I show gratitude today—through kindness, patience, or simply taking a mindful breath?

Hold your anxiety gently. Breathe with it. And let gratitude steady your heart.

By Annabella Hagen, LCSW

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash