“What do you do if you’re feeling stressed?”

The question was asked by a fan to Caterina Scorsone, an actress that portrays Amelia Shepherd on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. As a massive fan of the show, and of her and her character in particular, I follow all of her tweets regularly. I love her calm demeanor, her easy logic, but the simple truth in her answer here struck me.

I remember thinking immediately, “how have I never thought of this before?” and then I moved on, dismissed it with a simple reminder of why I admire and respect her so much as a person.

Then came college. And more than that, then came the weeks leading up to it. The tiny seed of fear planted in my belly seemed to grow exponentially with each passing day. Even when I felt fine, even when I felt like I had it all under control, it always came back in the last few moments before I fell asleep. What if I got lost and missed all my classes? What if I couldn’t handle my classes? What if I was just doing absolutely everything wrong? What if passion wasn’t enough, what if I was so pathetically horrible at what I do that I have to drop out? Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe I wasn’t good enough to make it in my chosen field. Maybe I should have just sucked it up and taken an extra math class or two, kept writing just as a hobby.

It occurred to me suddenly. I remember standing in a store shopping with my mom. I don’t even remember if it was college related shopping, only that I was thinking (stressing) about college and all of a sudden, as if it was meant to be there, this tweet appeared in the forefront of my mind. I had tucked it away long ago in the back of my brain, and there it waited, until I stood in the middle of the store, exactly when I needed it most.

I took a deep breath and I told myself I was excited.

I was terrified of getting lost in the city, so I became excited to roam a piece of the world that was completely new to me.

I was afraid of my professor’s critique, that I wouldn’t meet their standards, so I became excited for the chance to be challenged by such interesting, intelligent professionals.

I was petrified that I wouldn’t be able to manage and stay on top of all my responsibilities, so I became excited for this opportunity to grow and prioritize what was most important to me.

This became my new hobby, my new coping mechanism, to warp every single anxiety-ridden thought in my head to excitement. I live a happy, healthier life for it.

Next time you feel that familiar sinking feeling in your stomach, that quick spinning of a thousand thoughts per minute in your brain, I hope Caterina’s words find their way to the forefront of your mind right when you need it most. Remember that anxiety does feel a lot like excitement. That flutter in your stomach? It's excited butterflies. The rapidfire thoughts going in your beautiful brain are because there is so much to look forward to that your brain is trying to process it all.

Anxiety comes from living in the future. Try to live in the moment.

If that doesn't work?

There's always a plan B.