 Welcome to The Anxious Morning. Every weekday morning, we'll take a few minutes to go over some important lessons that you can use in your anxiety recovery journey. Away from the endless noisy scroll of social media, The Anxious Morning brings you support, education, inspiration, encouragement, and empowerment. For more, visit us at theanxiousmorning.com. When anxious, we have two choices in terms of how we interpret what is happening. The obvious choice is to evaluate the content of what we are thinking and feeling in our anxious moments. We examine our anxious sensations and symptoms, trying to figure out where they come from and what they mean. Are they harbingers of doom? Do they signal impending disaster in the form of incapacitation or even death? We engage in frantic inner dialogue with our anxious thoughts, attempting to convince ourselves that nothing bad is going to happen. We try to throw reason and logic at the thoughts, mistakenly believing that we can reason against what is ultimately baseless and therefore irrational fear. Sometimes we try to run from the thoughts and sensations, treating them as if they are truly dangerous and must be stopped or avoided at all costs. This is what it looks like when you evaluate and judge the content of anxious sensations and thoughts. If you're reading this email, odds are that you are very familiar with this scenario. There is a second less obvious option. This option does not involve trying to escape or seek certainty. The second option doesn't acknowledge any danger at all. It's not something you are likely considering when anxious, but it is the better option in the long run. Your second option when anxious is to observe the process in progress without evaluating the content. Look, there is virtually no way you're going to simply ignore your fear and all the things that come with it. You're going to have to acknowledge it, but acknowledgement can come in the form of observation rather than judgment. When we observe the process of anxiety, fear, symptoms and thoughts, we take our best shot at remaining objective and detached from the specific threat we appear to be facing. We do not try to convince ourselves that our hearts are strong. We do not seek reassurance that our sanity will remain intact. We do not hold on to the shopping cart or run out of the restaurant in response to specific worries, fear or predicted disaster. Instead, we stop, pause and ask ourselves what is happening in the moment rather than attempting to predict and avoid future moments. Recognizing the process of anxiety, observing it and acknowledging it helps to keep us from falling into the fear pit. When we practice doing this, even in the heat of the moment, we stand on firmer ground and are able to more productively move through our anxious and fearful episodes. Evaluating the content of your anxiety traps you in the fear spiral. Observing the process of your anxiety keeps you at arm's length and allows you to make better recovery focused choices when you are certain that you cannot. Over the next two days, we will examine two key components that go into observing the process of anxiety. Tomorrow, we'll start with one simple statement. I am thinking. Thanks a lot.