As someone who's constantly worrying about every detail of the future—whether it's the state of the world in the next 10 to 25 years or if I'll be able to find a parking spot when I go to the store tomorrow—this idea really resonated with me. If you can't stop worrying about what's going to happen on Election Day and the aftermath and how you're going to cope, there is not much you can do about it right now except vote and put your support behind the causes you believe in. But some things are out of your control.
"We tend to get really preoccupied by things that haven't even happened yet," Anhalt explains. "The problem is the version of you that will deal with the tough things that happen in the future does not exist yet. That version of you will be born into existence when that moment comes. That version of you will have had more time and more experience to figure out what to do. So expecting yourself now to know what to do about something that hasn't even come into fruition yet is unfair."
If you're having a hard time grasping that idea, Anhalt also suggests scheduling time to worry. "If anxiety has kind of permeated your whole day and it's pulling you away from everything you need to do, schedule one hour at some point in the day where all you have to do is worry," she says. "You can ruminate, and you can freak out and have all your feelings, but then, the rest of the day, when you start to worry, you can say, 'You know what? Six o'clock me will worry about that.'"