I have the freak-out mode down. It’s my go-to when all hell is breaking loose. Challenges standing in my way? Bring on the freak-out! My mind rolls through all the things that could go wrong, and then repeats until I am certain everything is about to come crashing down. The world as I know it is about to end. Even the smallest little thing can set me off, and can, and often does, set off a whole new line of bad what if’s. Ultimate disasters appear to be lurking just around the corner. My anxiety so high, I feel like I’m headed for a nasty crash and burn.

Sound familiar?

Maybe not. Maybe you stay cool under pressure. Maybe you only think of best case scenarios when things are looking grim. Shhh… don’t tell anybody, but yeah, I admit, I do this from time to time. I actually manage to stay calm. I think positively. I’m on the optimistic bus and it’s great! But I still struggle with my brain’s default setting to go to negative and worst case possibilities before I even consider that good can actually (and almost always does) come from what I might think of “bad” situations.

So if you are like me and have moments of freak-out that threaten the very ground you stand on, how do you deal with it? I have realized sometime ago that the best way for me to work through a situation is to have a plan, or at least a baseline in which to work from. I have found that I fall into repeating habits from time to time and a key way for me to work through these “bad” habits is to write about it.

Here are list of things I have come up with that help me work through my freak-out modes. Hopefully you will find it useful.

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