Imagination

I’ve battled anxiety my whole life

My mom tried everything she could think of

To help me relax

She would tell me,

“Pretend we’re on a beach.”

And I’d say, “But we’re not.”

Clearly, I struggled with being imaginative

But now I can’t seem to stop

Most of the situations I think of

Will never happen

But in my head, they seem very real

Too real

Like when my best friend won’t respond to a text

I’ll think

“Something is terribly wrong!”

My thoughts of imaginary situations spiral out of control

I know that thinking outside of the box can be a great skill to have

But when you use it simply to ruminate on something that isn’t real

And may never be

It becomes nothing more than one more burden to carry