effectively	cope	and	manage	whatever	thoughts,	feelings,	or
behaviors	arise.	Despite	your	discomfort	you	stay.	If	you	pushed
through	discomfort,	what	would	be	the	result?	How	would	you
feel	about	yourself	then?	Imagine	feeling	good,	strong,	capable,
even	proud.
Uncertainty
	
Intolerance
Remember	the	Magic	8-Ball	from	childhood?	Ask	the	ball	any	question	you
wish,	shake	it	up,	and	poof!	A	triangle	floating	in	water	delivers	an
unequivocal	answer.	If	the	Magic	8-Ball	really	worked,	we	probably	wouldn’t
have	anxiety	disorders;	because	it	would	always	tell	us	what	was	coming
next,	we’d	never	have	to	experience	uncertainty.
Research	shows	that	people	who	struggle	with	chronic	anxiety	and	worry
have	great	difficulty	dealing	with	uncertainty—that	is,	situations	with
unknown	outcomes.	Overthinking—about	past	events	or	possible	future
outcomes—is	a	way	to	bridge	the	uncertainty	gap.	When	we	don’t	know
what’s	going	to	happen,	our	brain	gets	busy	generating	a	bunch	of
hypothetical	outcomes	to	make	us	feel	like	we	know	more	than	we	do.	Take
the	person	going	to	the	doctor	for	their	yearly	blood	work.	Before	the	tests,
during	the	appointment,	and	up	until	they	receive	the	results,	they	imagine