For us to rebuild a robust democratic culture, we need to get over having our egos offended and accept that we don’t have all the answers. In short, we need a politics of humility. If we all committed ourselves to thinking before we spoke, listening more instead of shouting over others, and doing the homework needed to articulate informed opinions, this country would be a lot better off. Abraham Lincoln provides us with such an example to emulate. As he said nearly two centuries ago, at the start of his political career, we must gain the esteem of others by rendering ourselves worthy of their esteem. The way to do that is by correctly apportioning our confidence in relation to our competence. Only then can we genuinely make a more just, peaceful, and generous nation.

Anxiety is a concept that is nearly universally experienced but almost universally misunderstood. It is not plain nervousness, like when you stop abruptly at a stop light or surprisingly run into an ex-partner or an in-law. For me and many others, it is a constant, pervasive dread that permeates our very existence. A couple of years ago I realized that my anxiety was beginning to affect nearly every aspect of my life, from work and relationships to even my ability to sleep at night. It was here that I began my own investigations into anxiety, reading and studying as much as I could on the subject. From learning about Buddhism to Psychoanalysis and everything in between, I really didn’t crack the “anxiety code” until I discovered a nineteenth century philosopher who wrote a pioneering book on the subject in 1844.

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