Anxiety beclouds the future

While it slowly eats your inner child,
there you stand motionless or hide.

Anxiety is the beginning of conscience, which is the parent of the soul but is not compatible with innocence. It is not fear exactly, because fear is something right in front of you, a real danger. Instead it is a generalized sense of dread about something out there that seems menacing, but in reality is not menacing and may not even be out there. As it continues, you will find it difficult to talk yourself out of this foreboding because you become trapped in an endless loop of what-ifs. However, those what-ifs do NOT exist! So such phrasing should not either. Disallow yourself to ever utter 'what if' again, and once you do, catch yourself in the process. You will be surprised at how often you use the phrase without realising it. Lastly, the most demanding part is exposure. If you are motionless, you have to force yourself to move. Whereas if you hide, you must force yourself out into the open.