It can happen out of the blue, you just had some good news, some really good news and your chest feels like you cannot freely breathe. You have felt this before, many times and yet every time this feeling comes back, it is hard not to dread it. This fantasy you have of a world where anxiety does not happen to you has been shredded and the elephant sitting on your chest just will not let up. You search for the free, unencumbered breath—in vain. There really is no reason. You cannot explain it away and it feels soul crushing.

And you wonder—did I really think I had this anxiety beat? Did it really ever go away? And, more importantly—how long will I feel this way, this hard to breathe, heavy chest and the dread of it all—Days? Weeks? Months? It starts getting rather bleak pretty quickly. De-spirited, you want to flee. This is the antithesis of your good news. And you feel guilty—what have I done to deserve this? And you feel ashamed—I still have it, it is still part of me. I cannot shake it.

And when you remember to, you breathe slowly and remind yourself that you do not really have to let it. That it will not crush you. That there really is this amazing life force within you that sometimes misfires and lets you know that you really are—fully alive. And, that even with no explanation it will pass. All in due time… all with little to no interference from you. And then you slowly let go of the elephant and remember to get back to your life. You still feel it sitting on your chest and you just move with it. It may be here for a while, it may come back, but you are not going to wait around for it. You have so many things that you need and want do—elephant or no elephant! And then you do.