About 12 years ago I was diagnosed with severe Chronic Anxiety.  I tried medication for a while but didn't really like how it made me feel.  I've been managing it on and off for all these years and even though I feel like I've done a lot of work, sometimes (more often than I'd like to admit) it just creeps up and goes into overdrive.

One of the toughest parts of anxiety for me is managing my monkey mind...all the stories I make up because of this insatiable need to fill in every blank in every story.

The other day I came across a video (and darn if I could find it again to give credit but will come back and add it if I find it in the future) where she was talking about how we get triggered when we are tired, stressed, etc. and start to make up stories in our heads that we have no idea are even close to the truth.

Her suggestion was to recognize the trigger, hear it out, and then go back and focus on the facts we absolutely know to be true and then respond/react from that space.

I wouldn't say this is easy to do.  The struggle is real when you are used to filling in those blanks but the benefit is well worth it if you can begin to shift and only focus on what's true in the moment.

I'm hoping this will be helpful...I can feel a small shift already.  The key, though, will be to remember to do this each and every time things start to go south.  I'm not really expecting perfection but I would like to develop a habit of responding/reacting from this space.  Wish me luck!