The dizziness of freedom

In 1844, the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard published a book called The Concept of Anxiety, under a pen name, as he often did.

He described a person standing at the edge of a cliff. Part of the dizziness is the fear of falling, but part of it is something stranger: the sudden awareness that you could jump. Nothing outside is forcing you. The vertigo comes from your own freedom.

We usually read anxiety as an alarm: something is wrong, stop. Kierkegaard noticed another kind. It shows up when real possibilities open: a move, a relationship, a career change, saying what you really think.

That anxiety isn't a sign you're choosing wrong. It's a sign the choice is real and that it matters to you. You don't have to wait for it to disappear before you choose; it can come along.

Not all anxiety is about freedom. Some is about real danger, and it's worth checking which one you're feeling.

• Psychology

  The psychologist Rollo May built on Kierkegaard, describing "normal anxiety" as part of growth and creativity.

• ACT

  Painful feelings often point to what we care about; the values compass asks what that is.

Think of a choice or change that makes you anxious.

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A friend is anxious about accepting a job abroad. What would Kierkegaard suggest?