Whenever I’m going through something that makes me anxious, like going to the doctor, flying on an airplane or contemplating my next step in life, the ability to mentally and emotionally coach myself through tough situations is critical to coping. One of the most frequent ways I try to get through things is to focus on the timeline. For example, when getting a shot at the doctor’s office I focus on 1 minute from now when it will all be over and in the past.

Have you ever read that line penned by Ernest Hemmingway that says “Everything good and bad left an emptiness when it stopped”? I interpret that in relation to dealing with change in life. Sometimes the bad things, like an unhealthy relationship, still leaves you feeling empty when it was gone, even though it’s a good thing that relationship is gone.

Here are a few mantras I use regularly:

• “This is only temporary.”
• “Anxiety is overestimating the problem and underestimating my ability to deal with it.”
• “It might not be OK now, but it will be OK soon enough.”

These are other mantras I felt draw to…

• “I’m stronger than I think — I’ve been through this before and I’m still here.” — Mary Theresa Edwards
• “It’s just a bad day, not a bad life.” — Ashley Bridges
• “You’re braver than you believe and stronger and smarter than you think.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

One of my favorite and most effective way to deal with anxiety is to be in nature. It instantly calms me (there’s even science to back this up).

How do you deal with anxiety? Do you have a mantra?