With Anxiety we like to ask ourselves a lot of questions. A lot of the questions we ask ourselves are not always helpful. One of those questions are the "What ifs?" We tend to build them up a lot. When it comes to something that we are trying to do or need to do they keep coming up. One thing that I remember from one of my boys was when he got his license his big thing for him was going to get gas at the gas station. So he had all these "What ifs?" built up in his mind of things that could go wrong. What if his bank card didn't work and he couldn't pay. What if he couldn't open the gas cap? What if the gas pump didn't work? What if there wasn't a pump opened when he got there and he had to wait for someone else to be finished? What if the gas station blew up? These things that he had built up in his mind were causing him to feel anxiety about going and getting gas. So what if we could just write them all down and address them all individually. So I want you to write down your what ifs, and then write down what you will do if that actually happens. What will you do if this happens? Some of them might not be realistic and you will recognize that as you write them down and you will say to yourself "that's something I don't need to worry about". What if the Gas station blows up, is probably something you don't need to worry about. So cross that off your list. Go onto the next one. Figure out what you can do to strategize for each of these things that are your obstacles. That is what I would like you all to do this week. Do it for yourself, do it with your teenager or the young adult in your life or with your spouse. If you have something coming up, whether it's big like a big test or a big event or something that's causing you to feel anxiety or something that is just a little bit smaller like going and getting gas from the gas station. Write down all your what ifs, and then figure out all your strategies that will help to maybe calm yourself down a little bit and make you see that some of these things are ones we can simple cross of your list or you do have a solution for them. You do know what to do and you will know what you will do if something like that comes up. If you are interested in learning more about Anxiety and teenagers and young adults or how to implement obstacles and strategies, click on the button at the bottom of the page to book a mini session with me.
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