This is how you work through your anxiety.

This is how you force yourself out of bed instead of curling up and sleeping the day away. This is how you take hot showers to forget your troubles. This is how to force yourself to eat when you feel nauseous. This is how to change your mind ten times on what to wear because you don't want to stand out, or look too plain, or show off any body parts you don't like.

This is how you go to class when your heart is pounding. This is how you speak in front of dozens of people staring at you. This is how you recite your answer in class before being called on. This is how you hide your panic when your professor says they’ll start calling people out at random. This is how to take walks in the hallway to calm down. This is how to eat by yourself without looking like a freak. This is how you walk away from the laughing that must be at your expense. This is how to disappear into the back of a classroom.

This is how you tap your fingers against your leg to keep it quiet. This is how to count your change 17 times before paying. This is how to wander a new store aimlessly because you're too shy to ask an employee for help. This is how to continually repeat your dinner order in your head before telling the waiter. You don’t want to mess up and have them make fun of you to their friends.

This is how to call your friends and cancel your plans for the tenth time, claiming a stomachache or a headache when you’re really just too anxious to leave your house. This is how to listen to your friends complain about your bailing. This is how to lose friends.

But what if I don't want to lose my friends?

If you cancel all the time, then you obviously want to lose friends.

This is how you breathe when the world is crashing down around you. Don’t forget to breathe.