I am tired of surviving things that never happen

Dear Delyara, That might be the clearest summary. Imagined conversations. Predicted rejection. Emotional preparation for bad outcomes. Scanning for signs. Reading too much into shifts. Trying to protect myself from pain that often never actually arrives. It takes so much energy. And because none of it is visible, people underestimate the cost. I think anxiety is not only fear. It is preemptive exhaustion. And I am tired of paying that price so often.