Confidence, Anxiety, and Allergies

In a rare moment of respite from the ceaseless demands of teacherhood, I find the time to expand upon an old draft. The idea is this: allergies is to health as anxiety is to confidence. Both are permanent, but not continuous, and they are not opposites to their respective measure. I find it very frustrating when people conflate anxiety as the opposite of confidence. I am a very confident person; I also happen to have anxiety. Most people are, for the most part, robustly healthy. These robustly healthy individuals may also have allergies, but they are not considered "unhealthy" simply because they have allergies. It is a condition that causes symptoms, but in no way impacts one's measure of health. Same goes for anxiety. A confident person may have symptoms of anxiety from time to time, but having such symptoms does not diminish their confidence level. Sometimes someone who has anxiety may not be confident, just as someone who has allergies may be unhealthy, but it is in no way a pre-condition that permanently impacts health. ◊