Replied By Cindy (Orange County, Ca) on 07/26/2012
When I first saw "calm down" above I scoffed -- because that's the hardest thing to do when you're really anxious!! After reading the post, though, I must admit it helps. I am prone to impatience and skyrocketing anxiety if I don't work on keeping it under control. I have trained myself to never respond immediately to really frustrating or anxiety-provoking situations or people. I walk away, take a break, let voicemail screen calls and put replies in email only after I have calmed down. This helps me immensely so that my responses are driven by rational thinking, rather than frantic, anxious thinking, and it goes a long way in preserving my good relationships with others :)