horrendous,	and	that	all	the	planning	is	taking	away	time	from	other	things
you	should	be	doing.	At	times	you	may	even	tell	yourself,	“This	trip	isn’t
worth	all	this	planning,	ugh,	I	give	up!”	By	the	time	you	take	the	trip	you	may
be	filled	with	such	resentment	or	annoyance	over	the	planning	and	
packing
that	nothing	about	the	trip	will	quite	make	you	happy.	You	return	home
dissatisfied	and	unfulfilled.	You	vow	to	take	another,	better,	more	perfect	trip
in	the	future.
Alternatively,	you	can	accept	the	planning	process—even	embrace	it.	You
have	to	do	it	anyway,	so	you	might	as	well	enjoy	it.	You	can	conjure	a	feeling
of	excitement	and	imagine	your	future	pleasure	as	you	think	through	what
you	want	to	do.	You	can	spend	time	looking	at	photos,	reading	articles,	and
creating	an	agenda.	When	you	hit	setbacks,	you	can	be	flexible	and	think	of
other	ways	to	still	get	much	of	what	you	want	out	of	the	trip.
Dealing	with	anxiety	is	similar,	in	that	there’s	a	choice:	On	the	one	hand,
you	can	forfeit	the	present	moment	and	succumb	to	anxiety,	or	even	self-
criticism	for	
feeling
	
anxiety.	On	the	other	hand,	you	can	make	room	for	a