I took time off and disconnected from work email over the holidays. On the first day back, I noticed a familiar reaction before opening the inbox: sweaty palms. My mind raced. My stomach tightened.
Anxiety is anticipating failure in advance. “Did something blow up? What went wrong? What did I miss?”
Intellectually, I knew probably nothing happened. And if something did happen, I knew I could face the issue, break it down, and handle it.
Anxiety still arose nonetheless.
I returned to a practice I’ve been working on: observe the emotion, watch it evolve, and get curious. What if I write about it? When revealed, it has nowhere to hide. It loses its grip. It melts away.