Anxiety is…

Having trouble breathing.
Holding your breath so no one notices you’re having trouble breathing.
Certain everyone can hear your heartbeat pounding against the walls of your chest and fearful it will burst through and land on the floor in front of you.
Wishing that the butterflies residing in your stomach would take flight and find another flower to harass.
Having knots in your muscles so tight it feels like you’re sitting on golf balls and you’ve been beaten with a baseball bat.
Worrying obsessively about whether your kid will get home safely from his first party and knowing with certainty that you’re now going to have to send him to rehab.
Spending half your shift in the bathroom.
Pacing back-and-forth, from bed to couch to kitchen and back again.
Multiple trips to the emergency room to ensure your chest pain and shortness of breath is not something fatal.
Isolating yourself to control your symptoms, because nothing else works.

The Grey Zone