I worked out hard last night (pushups, cardio, P90x-type stuff). And I have thoracic outlet syndrome, which causes pain in my arm, collarbone area and, you guessed it -- my chest. It's a benign condition that's more annoying than anything. But as someone who struggles with anxiety, those pains fire up the nervous in me. (Let me say for the record that I'm in pretty good health, as unneeded trips to the ER and several physicals have reminded me over the past few years)

Still, even though I handle anxiety better than I have in the past, today I had two "episodes" of anxiety that tested me.

They were due to my normal TOS symptoms, which include tiny, sharp pains in the chest and arm. So I went through my typical anxiety routine -- OMG, I need to go to the ER, something's totally wrong, etc.

But then, just as I thought I was gonna lose it, I reminded myself to take deep breaths, and proceeded to "talk myself down." I said to myself that hey, this TOS is my burden, anxiety is my burden -- not my heart. I recognized that the reason for my domino effect of emotions was anxiety, through and through. And I felt proud I had guided myself through an unsavory episode, on my own (and while driving in traffic, thank you very much!).

I guess the reason I'm posting this is to say that I think managing anxiety (and conquering it) is a PROCESS, filled with a bunch of small steps. You can call those steps "victories," because that's what they are -- successes that lead you to your goal. And it's important to recognize them and give yourself a pat on the back.