Your girl gets a lot of anxiety. It's OK. It's a learning

In the tender yet powerful words of Marsai Martin, we hear a confession and a revelation: “Your girl gets a lot of anxiety. It’s OK. It’s a learning process.” These words, though simple in sound, carry the quiet strength of self-awareness and the wisdom of acceptance. For in them is the voice of one who faces the unseen storms of the mind, not with denial or shame, but with honesty and grace. Marsai, though young, speaks with the timeless courage of those who dare to name their struggles and transform them into teachers. Her words are a balm for a restless age—an age where so many hearts tremble in silence, yet long to hear that it is OK to feel uncertain, OK to feel afraid, and that even anxiety can become part of the great learning process of life.

In the ancient world, the philosophers and poets taught that self-knowledge is the beginning of wisdom. The oracle of Delphi bore the inscription, “Know thyself,” not as an ornament of pride, but as a commandment of peace. To know oneself is to look upon one’s fears without flinching—to accept the trembling of the spirit as one accepts the coming of a storm. So too does Marsai’s statement echo this ancient truth. She admits her anxiety, not as weakness, but as a companion on the journey toward understanding. In doing so, she gives voice to what countless souls experience yet hide. This act of openness itself is a victory—a triumph of truth over the illusion of perfection.

There is great strength in vulnerability, and great learning in struggle. In calling her anxiety a learning process, Marsai reveals that every fear can be a teacher if met with awareness. The warrior who trains under fire becomes sharper; the mind that faces its storms grows wiser. It is not through denial that peace is found, but through understanding. Anxiety teaches patience, empathy, and humility. It teaches the art of breathing amid chaos, the courage of stillness when the heart races. Those who walk through such trials often emerge with deeper compassion for others and for themselves, for they have learned that suffering, when embraced with wisdom, becomes a source of light.

Consider the story of Eleanor Roosevelt, who as a child was painfully shy and full of fear. She once said that her life changed when she made a vow: “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Through that resolve, she transformed anxiety into action, fear into fortitude. From that timid girl rose one of the most powerful voices for human rights in the twentieth century. Her journey mirrors the wisdom of Marsai’s words—that growth is born not from ease, but from confrontation with discomfort. Each moment of fear is a lesson in courage waiting to be learned.

Marsai’s message also reflects a vital truth for our times: that to admit one’s mental struggles is not a mark of weakness but of humanity. In an age of constant performance, where masks are worn for survival, her honesty cuts through illusion. She reminds us that healing begins not with control, but with acceptance. The ancients would call this the harmony of the soul—the moment when the self stops fighting its own nature and instead listens to it. Anxiety, then, is not an enemy to be slain, but a messenger calling us to slow down, to understand, to care for the heart that beats within us.

In her words—“It’s OK”—there lies a softness that carries the weight of courage. To say “It’s OK” is to forgive oneself for being human. It is to loosen the chains of perfection, to allow the heart to breathe again. And in “It’s a learning process”, she invites us to see that every struggle, every setback, every anxious thought is not a failure, but part of our apprenticeship in becoming whole. The path to peace is not straight or smooth—it winds through valleys of doubt and climbs mountains of effort. Yet each step teaches us more of who we are and what we are capable of enduring.

So, O listener and wanderer of the soul, let this be your lesson: when the storms of anxiety rise within you, do not curse them. Sit with them. Learn from them. Write them down as Marsai might, or speak them aloud to someone you trust. Seek understanding, not escape. For the one who faces their own heart with honesty will discover a power greater than fear—the power of awareness, compassion, and growth.

And when you fall into worry, remember her words: “It’s OK. It’s a learning process.” Let them be your mantra, your reminder that even in trembling, you are growing. Be patient with your becoming. For just as the sea calms after the storm, so too will your heart, once it has learned to listen to itself, find its stillness again. In that quiet, you will find not only peace, but wisdom—the ancient gift that is born only through struggle and understanding.