Silence still breeds meaning in me much faster than it should

Dear Delyara, A delayed answer. A paused conversation. A short reply. A changed tone. An unread message. Silence in me is rarely empty. It fills too quickly. With stories, possibilities, emotional rehearsals, explanations, fears. I know this. I still live with it. By the time reality catches up, I have often already spent the emotional money of several possible outcomes. That is what makes anxiety so expensive. Not only the fear itself, but the imagination it hijacks. I am tired of silence becoming a factory for unnecessary pain.