A young person I know has anxiety and it manifests itself in an unpredictable way.  Filling out scholarships seems daunting. He even worries by questioning going to college (he has more worries about getting a job). This is because he looks so far ahead to when he graduates.  What will that mean and what we he do then.

It took me a long time for me to understand this. That he looks at a simple task through anxiety lenses. For him it is not simple.

I told him that he can’t look at it as if he is graduating today. Instead, he is giving as many advantages as he can to his future self that is old, more mature and able to handle the next step.

I guess this is why people put so much stock in living in the now. The past can be fraught with regrets and the future holds uncertainly. We must focus on doing what we can now and that is much easier without anxiety and regret. And trust we will become the person that can handle it.