It's not known exactly when or why people began to meditate, but we've since learned that meditation benefits our health in more ways than you'd probably think.
Feeling anxious can make it hard to enjoy life, and it's not easy to just "fix" being overtaken by a racing reel of negative thoughts by keeping a gratitude journal, or taking deep, cleansing breaths, or whatever else it is your non-anxious friends say helps them deal with their worries.