I can not begin to express how grateful I am to have an anxiety journal these days. It does miracles.

I just dumped all my current concerns into it -- Mom being by herself here in Ohio, my busted (but not that badly it looks like) ankle, Shemp's been AWOL for a couple days again, Roe v Wade about to go down.

And I can't speak for anyone else but it really really works for me. These things will still worry me, but I don't have to RUMINATE about them. I don't have to feel like if I don't juggle them in my head constantly, I'll let something slip.

And I've kinda tricked my brain into feeling I've done something about them. "What are you complaining about? They're on THE LIST now. That's standard procedure. Everything is going according to plan."

And maybe some or all of these things will still turn to ruin. Sooner or later one of them has to. But now, after nearly five years of keeping this journal, I have a mountain of evidence that, nah, odds are good it's fine. The TRUE disasters have come a lot less often than I worried, and all of them have just kinda... sunk into the waves of time.

I'm not good but I'm OK and having a *strategy* for being OK in this day and age is important and fuck. Again, can't guarantee it'll work for you, but I recommend it very highly.