Oh, I am completely the same: immediately planning for worst-case scenarios. Back in dim dark past when it was still possible to leave the house for social activities, I used to always factor in time for getting lost, trains being cancelled, and other disasters — which usually meant I arrived to things way too early and had to kill time.
I had exactly the same problem as you with both shops (particularly clothes shops) and the phone. When I was in my early twenties I worked for a newspaper — and my job meant I had to phone people a lot. This used to send me into a frenzy of anxiety, and the only way I could deal with it was to actually write myself a script for each phone conversation, with different questions depending on how my interlocutors answered each preceding question. I'm very glad to have moved beyond that!
Quite frankly, I don't get why society makes getting older out to be such a negative thing, it seems to me that it comes with a lot of pros too. I certainly wouldn't trade my older, more confident, less conscious and anxious self for my younger one!
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I had exactly the same problem as you with both shops (particularly clothes shops) and the phone. When I was in my early twenties I worked for a newspaper — and my job meant I had to phone people a lot. This used to send me into a frenzy of anxiety, and the only way I could deal with it was to actually write myself a script for each phone conversation, with different questions depending on how my interlocutors answered each preceding question. I'm very glad to have moved beyond that!
Quite frankly, I don't get why society makes getting older out to be such a negative thing, it seems to me that it comes with a lot of pros too. I certainly wouldn't trade my older, more confident, less conscious and anxious self for my younger one!
Same here!