Anxiety

“I refreshed my email three times during dinner because I'm waiting to hear back about the job and I can't be present for anything right now.”

“I keep rehearsing what I'm going to say to my boss tomorrow and none of the versions end well.”

“My son said I was embarrassing him in front of his friends and I keep turning it over in my head even though he's been asleep for hours.”

“I spent $200 I don't have on things I convinced myself were necessities and now I can't sleep.”

“I practiced the conversation in my head so many times that when it actually happened I couldn't say any of it.”

“I nodded along in the meeting like I understood what they were talking about and I still don't know what half those acronyms mean.”

“My dad asked when I'm getting married again and I laughed it off but I thought about it the whole drive home.”

“I put my phone face-down when he walked into the room and I'm not even doing anything wrong, which makes it weirder.”

“I corrected someone in a meeting today and they looked annoyed and I've been second-guessing whether I was right ever since.”

“I told myself I was being productive but I've just been reorganizing the same three folders on my desktop for an hour.”

“I said something edgy in the group chat to seem funny and no one responded and I've been staring at it for twenty minutes.”

“I got the grade I needed but it doesn't feel like anything, and that worries me more than getting a bad grade would have.”

“I'm watching her life on Instagram and I don't even know her that well and yet I feel genuinely behind somehow.”

“I called my best friend and got her voicemail and hung up without leaving a message because I didn't know how to begin.”

“I got really quiet at dinner when they started talking about traveling and I pretended I was just tired.”

“The thought of going to the party makes me anxious but the thought of not going and being alone makes me more anxious.”

“I sent the email and immediately wanted to take it back for a reason I can't fully articulate.”

“I downloaded the dating app and deleted it and downloaded it again in the same evening.”

“I told her the presentation was great and I meant it but now I keep wondering if I was too enthusiastic and came across as fake.”

“I ate lunch alone again today and kept my headphones in so it would look intentional.”

“My doctor said the numbers are fine but I've been lying awake thinking about the ones that were borderline.”

“I wrote the apology text and deleted it four times because I want to fix it but I also want them to know how much it hurt.”

“I check his location sometimes not because I don't trust him but because the app is there and I have a brain that does this.”

“I've been putting off going to the doctor for something I noticed and I think I'm afraid of what having a name for it would mean.”

“I've lost count of how many Sunday nights I've felt exactly this way and it's starting to feel permanent.”

“I walked into the kitchen for something and stood there for a full minute and couldn't remember what it was and I'm only 34.”

“I sent my friend an article instead of saying what I actually wanted to say.”

“I lie awake and run through everything I have to do tomorrow and then I'm too tired to do any of it when it comes.”

“I've started saying I'm an introvert because it's easier than explaining that I'm just afraid of not being liked.”

“I drove to the party, sat outside for five minutes, and went home, and I didn't tell anyone.”

“I keep waiting to feel ready and I'm starting to understand that's not how it works but I can't stop waiting anyway.”

“I agreed with something I didn't believe because the group was very certain and I didn't have the energy to be the one person who pushed back.”

“I keep comparing my relationship to people who've been together for twenty years and we've been together for ten months.”

“I asked for feedback and got it and now I wish I hadn't asked.”

“I've started leaving parties early and telling myself it's because I'm mature about my sleep and not because I can't handle small talk anymore.”