a heart There are all sorts of frightening unlikely places your anxious thoughts will take only if you let Believe it or not you can intervene and slow this process down Imagining catastrophes and 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 speculations and thinking are moved to the pile at least until you have solid evidence that those thoughts are realistic Start sorting helpful from unhelpful thoughts by taking a little time if only a few to slow down and become aware of what thinking before you react When we slow down we create space to observe our thoughts and see if as realistic as they might seem initially So the thought going to get becomes having the thought that going to get fired The thought girlfriend is breaking up with becomes having the thought that breaking up with me Taking a more curious andobservational stance makes room to challenge the accuracy of your thoughts and weigh their usefulness to you VS This strategy challenges your thoughts in a new way The exercise is designed to help you distinguish