will be vigilant which protects me Decide which cost most willing to accept and which option brings you closer to your goal of having more peace and less anxiety in your life It can be quite effective to examine the costs and benefits after anxiety has lessened Once the intensity decreases your brain has the bandwidth to problem solve and take on a broader perspective You Are Not Your Thoughts While visiting an amusement park with my young son I became highly anxious over his enthusiastic desire for me to accompany him on an old rickety roller coaster As he happily pulled me into the line worried thoughts gripped rickety and old what if it jumps the if the harness breaks when it goes upside if the safety mechanisms if they kept up with standards and if What if What if Within a matter of minutes I fully believed catastrophe would strike if we rode the roller coaster I wanted to stop us both from taking the plunge Suddenly as if waking from a trance I saw the ride operator open the door to our roller coaster car and we hopped aboard As the machine accelerated the fearful thoughts began