Hi, I’m Ilia Jones, licensed professional counselor in Suwanee, Georgia. And I want to talk to you about an analogy that I use when I’m working with people about anxiety. I refer to it as Anxiety is a Suitcase. So, you carry a suitcase everywhere you go when you have a lot of anxiety. And a suitcase doesn’t really prevent you from doing much of anything. You can still do pretty much all things. You can go places, you can climb fences, you can do a lot of different things, but everything is a little bit harder when you’re carrying an anxiety suitcase. However, there are all sorts of things that you keep in your suitcase. In case of emergency… a first aid kit, maps, tickets, extra tickets, backup sort of things, and all of these things you have in case there’s an emergency, in case a worst case scenario comes up and you will be prepared. Could be snacks, could be notebook, could be paper and pencil, could be extra cash, a lot of different things and that helps you feel better and so you enjoy carrying the suitcase because it makes you feel more prepared. There are times, however, that you won’t take your suitcase with you. You won’t have anxiety for whatever reason and you will notice how much lighter it is and how comfortable it feels and maybe something will happen and you’ll wish you had brought your suitcase but there’s a really good chance you get by just fine without it. So, I hope this analogy helps you.