- 12 Dec, 2025 *
My brain is wired towards anxiety. It’s my default operating system. There are pros and cons to this—I tend to overthink, get easily distracted, go down rabbit holes, and fight-or-flight my way through situations that don’t require it. But on the flip side, I’m also stellar at juggling multiple projects and deadlines, brainstorming solutions, and providing comedic relief to social situations. Living with an anxious brain can be both a frustrating chore and a welcome gift. It just depends on the situation.
So where does peace come in?
While I can’t change the fact that my brain is prone to anxiety, I can change my lifestyle to avoid situations that are likely to pour gasoline on the embers. There are even some lifestyle changes that can temporarily put out the emb…
- 12 Dec, 2025 *
My brain is wired towards anxiety. It’s my default operating system. There are pros and cons to this—I tend to overthink, get easily distracted, go down rabbit holes, and fight-or-flight my way through situations that don’t require it. But on the flip side, I’m also stellar at juggling multiple projects and deadlines, brainstorming solutions, and providing comedic relief to social situations. Living with an anxious brain can be both a frustrating chore and a welcome gift. It just depends on the situation.
So where does peace come in?
While I can’t change the fact that my brain is prone to anxiety, I can change my lifestyle to avoid situations that are likely to pour gasoline on the embers. There are even some lifestyle changes that can temporarily put out the embers altogether. That feeling is what I call peace.
Peace feels like waking up in the morning and allowing my brain to slowly power-on before diving into all the to-dos for the day. How do I achieve this? I switched to a brick phone because I used to wake up and immediately grab my smartphone and run through my texts, Discord notifications, personal emails, work emails, Facebook, Instagram, and my expense tracker. Within the first 5 minutes of consciousness, I had already poured gallons of gasoline on those embers. Ever since switching up my lifestyle with a brick phone, I’ve had slow, peaceful mornings that set me up well for the rest of the day.
Peace feels like going on an annual modest vacation with my best friends from college and not stressing out about the cost. How do I achieve this? I use the YNAB app to intentionally assign every dollar with a specific job. Which is another way to say that I save up for it all year so when the vacation comes, I can simply relax and enjoy it.
Peace feels like spending an entire Saturday on my hobbies without feeling “guilty” or “behind.” How do I achieve this? By regularly journaling and reminding myself in written form that taking care of myself is productive.
Activities and lifestyle changes like this facilitate a more peaceful, non-anxious life for me. I have fun experimenting with different habits and activities to see if it affects how I feel. That’s what this blog is all about.
With that said, some caveats about this blog:
- I’m not a trained mental health professional and I’m not qualified to give advice on treating clinical anxiety. I can merely share my experience and what has worked for me in the hopes that it can help someone else. But what works for one person may not work for another— and that’s okay! Having a variety of experiences and perspectives to read through benefits everyone.
- I’m not here to tell anyone what to do. I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to managing mental health. There are so many tools at our disposal these days—medication, therapy, lifestyle changes, and more. Everyone’s situation is different, and I advocate for doing what’s right for you.
We’re all just trying to do our best and if we can help each other along the way, even better!