I consider myself to be a bit of an anxious person.  Not the kind that can't keep still, or bounces their knee all the time.  Not the kind that bites their fingernails or pulls out their eyebrows.  I'm an anxious thinker.   If I get worried about something, I can create an entire story, from the first to the final chapter, that ends badly.  Working myself into a stress ball of chest pains and achy shoulders.  This is clearly unproductive and a waste of time since we never know how these stories end.

I've spent countless hours replaying what has happened while making up what could happen.  Then I take it further by sharing my worries with well-intentioned friends, hoping they can use their "psychic abilities" to tell me how my story will end.  But this only brings on more anxiety.

So I'm trying something different and it seems to be working for me. Hopefully, it can work for you, too.  (If you're anxious)

I'm learning not to feed the energetic doom and gloom I've created by putting my head down and forcing my attention onto something else, usually a creative task that I enjoy.   But this task must also advance me in the right direction.  In anxious moments this isn't easy, but I try to work on it long enough to become so absorbed I forget my previous worries.  Whenever I'm in motion on productive projects, my anxiety lessens.  I'm moving forward. I'm good.  If not, that misplaced energy only feeds my anxiety, holding up progress. And no one has time for that.