Title: When Anxiety Meets the Pink Ribbon — Breast Cancer through the Lens of “Hello Anxiety, My Old Friend”

Breast cancer is a journey no one volunteers for — but many find themselves walking it. It brings with it not only medical challenges, but emotional turbulence: fear, uncertainty, loss, hope. In her book Hello Anxiety, My Old Friend: Harness Your Invisible Superpower, Natalie Kohlhaas offers a deeply personal and therapeutic perspective on anxiety — a vantage that is especially relevant for those facing breast cancer. In this blog, I want to explore how the ideas from Kohlhaas’s book can speak into a breast cancer journey: how anxiety can shift from adversary to guide, how fear can point us to what matters, and how purpose can be reclaimed through suffering.

Breast Cancer Awareness

What Anxiety Offers (When We Listen)

One of the core shifts Kohlhaas champions is seeing anxiety not as an enemy, but as a messenger. Anxiety is giving us signals: “Here is something I care deeply about,” or “This is a risk, pay attention.” Rather than ignoring or trying to silence it, she encourages us to listen. Books That Make You+2Goodreads+2

In breast cancer, those signals are loud: danger, vulnerability, mortality, loss. But they also point toward possibility: the chance to reprioritize, to rebuild, to connect more deeply with life. For someone in active treatment or in survivorship, anxiety can highlight:

• What matters most — relationships, presence, meaning

• Boundaries — what to say “yes” to, and what to decline

• Self­-care cues — when you’re physically or emotionally depleted

• Growth and adaptation — what internal shifts are being demanded

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Kohlhaas’s notion of “harnessing your invisible superpower” is not some magical cure; rather, it’s learning to align your response to anxiety — to let it inform your decisions rather than hijack them. harnessyoursuperpower.com+2Barnes & Noble+2

One practical technique she shares (and that other anxiety-aware therapists often echo) is this: when you notice anxiety arising, slow down, acknowledge it, and greet it: “Hello, my old friend.” Don’t immediately act, don’t judge, but notice. Then ask: what is this anxiety wanting me to attend to? gregbodin.com+2Books That Make You+2

In the context of cancer, that moment of pause can prevent reactive decisions — rushing into every test, overcommitting, or fastening into catastrophic thinking. It creates a space for more conscious response, for discernment.

Breast cancer is more than a physical diagnosis — it is existential terrain. The anxiety that comes with it can feel like a storm. But in the storm, there can be guidance.

Natalie Kohlhaas’s Hello Anxiety, My Old Friend offers a way to reframe anxiety as a kind of inner compass. It invites us not to wish anxiety away, but to learn its language. To let it warn, to let it point, but not to let it rule.

Reach out to www.Serenitytreehouse.com for support and guidance.

Purchase Hello Anxiety My Old Friend on Amazon