Lately, life has felt… messy.
There’s been so much going on that’s completely out of my control. One thing after another, piling up—mentally, emotionally, physically—until it feels like I’m spinning. Caught in a loop. Not getting anywhere. And somehow still exhausted.
That’s what anxiety feels like when life is out of control.
The Moment It Hits
This morning, the anxiety hit hard. I found myself standing at the window. Waiting. Watching. Obsessing over a situation that wasn’t even mine to solve.
“Who are they going to show up with?”
“Why aren’t they coming to the door?”
“Where are they?”
The thoughts spiraled fast. Relentless. Irrational.
And if you’ve ever wondered how to manage anxiety when life feels out of control, you probably know this exact feeling. Your mind runs wild, looking for answers, but your body’s the one holding the tension.
My Distraction Strategy: Clean the Chaos
Something inside me finally said: stop.
I marched into the kitchen, grabbed every cleaning product in sight, and went straight into the bathroom like it owed me money.
I scrubbed. I scoured. I attacked the grime like it was my anxiety.
Still no knock at the door.
So I kept going. To the next bathroom. Then the hallway. If I couldn’t fix what was going on around me, I could at least create a pocket of control inside my home.
The Shift
Somewhere between wiping counters and scrubbing tile, my body steadied. My thoughts slowed down. Managing anxiety when life feels out of control didn’t mean fixing the situation. It meant channeling the storm somewhere safe.
And then—just like that—the doorbell rang.
They showed up.
And the anxiety let go.
I didn’t solve anything huge. But I found clarity. And I got two clean bathrooms out of it.
What Helped Most
When the world outside feels chaotic, sometimes the best way to manage anxiety is by creating calm inside yourself. Or around you.
Not through perfection. Not by solving it all.
But by anchoring into one small action.
Because learning how to manage anxiety when life feels out of control starts with this truth:
You can’t always calm the storm—but you can calm yourself.
