21 Borderline Genius Things To Remember When Anxiety Has You Freaking Out

1. What was the outcome of every stressful or devastating event so far in your life? You got through it. You have a 100% success rate of overcoming the very kind of thing you are worrying about.

2. The rule of 5: if it’s not going to matter in 5 years don’t spend more than 5 minutes worrying about it.

3. Someone has survived worse. No matter who you are and what your situation is, someone else has been there, survived, and made their life better on the other side.

4. What percent of the things you’ve worried about in the past have turned out to be as bad as you thought they might be? For most people (even people with anxiety) the answer is 0%. If you have such a bad track record of predicting past outcomes, you’re probably wrong about this one, too.

5. It’s never too late to do anything. Every 3-4 days the lining of your stomach regenerates completely. Starting over is something that’s built into our biology and every ecological system as a whole. Why wouldn’t it be part of your history, too?

6. Even the worst storm runs out of rain. Every bad thing is temporary.

7. It’s brave to do the hard thing. You are not on this earth for things to be easy all the time. You are here to be brave and strong and climb the hill that’s in front of you.

8. Feelings aren’t facts. Your anxiety brain is like a Facebook mom posting fake news memes. Just because you see them doesn’t mean you have to believe them.

9. What if the problem you are worrying about only exists because you are trying to solve it? What would it look like to spend your energy accepting the situation instead of trying to change it?

10. Nothing is the insurmountable obstacle it seems in the moment. “The cross looked like a huge win for the Romans.”

11. You might not be able to let go of a problem, but you can let go of the way you feel about the problem.

12. This Buddha quote: “You can only lose what you cling to.”

13. If something bad is going to happen, it’s going to happen so you might as well enjoy life now. Worrying does not prevent bad outcomes. Worrying robs you of the time you have before the bad outcome happens.

14. You feel this way because you care a lot. Enormously. It’s a rare quality in a culture that places emphasis on being ‘chill’ and ‘the one who cares less.’

15. No matter how bad a situation is, you can always start over.

16. I can’t control the situation, but I can unplug and practice breathing. I know I will feel better if I take a break and exercise or listen to music or do yoga, so I choose to do that.

17. What you’re worried about is just thoughts. Thoughts can’t hurt you. It’s uncomfortable, but it will pass.

18. This isn’t the first time you’ve worried uncontrollably about something, and it won’t be the last. This is a not-fun part of life, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s just feelings you know are going to pass.

19. Every challenge you’ve already conquered in your life looked just as scary at some point.

20. I can be anxious and still choose to move forward.

21. When this situation is over, there’s no doubt you’ll think it was silly that you spent so much time worrying about it.