How do you handle the small stuff ?

Hello - was wondering how do others handle the small bumps in the road .. speaking for myself , having Fibro and MS it is sometimes upsetting with all the anxiety/depression that can come with or existed before either of these life altering diseases ..

Personally , as I have written , I speak with a therapist regularly , even while she is in NM and I now am living in California .. we converse once a week, sometimes two .. I email when I feel it is important to me , and I am learning behavior modification ..

So I can add to my life , rather than allow the small issues build up until they are one huge mass of issues .. but it is not easy .. as a very passive/aggressive person , mostly passive , I am learning now that I can state what I need in a calm, clear and timely fashion ...

So what happens when I slip up ? When I don't allow myself to say "no" or "I need" in a clear, calm and timely manner ... well, anxiety takes control , as it does , I can actually feel it happening .. it is like my brain goes into over drive and it is hard to shift gears ..

Using some techinques, like the tapping method, calm me down for a bit .. then there is the fog .. what do you do with that ? Fog clogs your thoughts, and focusing becomes difficult .. so I reach out ..

But to who ? Who do you know to reach out to when anxiety or panic or that fogginess occur .. one time I called my mom, and we just talked about anything BUT the anxiety/panic I was in .. I listened to her words , and spoke some ..

As the anxiety became less and less , an hour had passed and since she is 3 hours ahead of me , I thanked her for helping me through .. and her comment was , "I didn't know you were even in that state of anxiety and having a panic attack!?"

The episode came from fear , being alone in a new place , and quite frankly , I was overcome by my own feelings of aloness , if that is a word .. not so much lonely, although I do get lonely .. but alone ..

So we spoke a bit more, and I came away okay .. shaky , but okay .. so what to do when in this situation , reach out .. you don't have to speak about what you are going through and why .. just a calming voice at the other end is a good start ..

As I find the less I speak of my aches and pains, anxiety or depression , fears .. the better off I am, and yet I do know also that this doesn't mean that these things are not going to be ..

Yesterday I had a different experience, and due to certain things and old habits and fears , I didn't reach out as I should have .. instead I faltered, allowing thoughts to build up in my head .. until I thought how awful my life is ..

But when I finally did reach out it was in an email to my therapist , as I love expressing my thoughts in writing, she likes that , so to my surprise she was still in her office and she wrote back ..

Questioning what I was really feeling, so I sat , I walked, I gardened, I cried a bit and realized that it was me .. and my own indecisiveness to plant my feet firmly on the ground here in California ..