me	anymore,”	quickly	followed	by,	“He’s	leaving	me!”	This	pattern	of	taking
one	small,	worrisome	thought	to	an	extreme	can	also	be	initiated	by	a
physical	sensation:	“My	heart	is	beating	fast	…	I	must	be	having	a	heart
attack!”	There	are	all	sorts	of	frightening,	unlikely	places	your	anxious
thoughts	will	take	you—but	only	if	you	let	them!	Believe	it	or	not,	you	can
intervene	and	slow	this	process	down.
Imagining	catastrophes	and	worst-case	scenarios	is	emotionally	draining
and	keeps	us	from	being	fully	present	in	the	here	and	now.	But	we	can	learn
to	sort	our	thoughts	so	that	things	like	over-the-top	speculations	and	black-
and-white	thinking	are	moved	to	the	“discard”	pile,	at	least	until	you	have
solid	evidence	that	those	thoughts	are	realistic.	Start	sorting	helpful	from
unhelpful	thoughts	by	taking	a	little	time	(even	if	only	a	few	moments)	to
slow	down	and	become	aware	of	what	you’re	thinking	before	you	react.
When	we	slow	down,	we	create	space	to	observe	our	thoughts	and	see	if
they’re	as	realistic	as	they	might	seem	initially.	So	the	thought,	“I’m	going	to
get	fired”	becomes	“I’m	having	the	thought	that	I’m	going	to	get	fired.”	The