Life is full of little experiences that cause anxiety . Even if you’re usually as cool as a cucumber, there have to be some things that make you a little bit anxious.
A recent r/AskReddit thread asked, “What makes you nervous no matter how many times you do it?” , and the answers and discussion are totally relatable.
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“Driving in between two semi trucks on the freeway.”
Sometimes it’s hard not to think about how easily you could get squished.
“Bonus points if one or both is carrying a bunch of logs,” adds the commenter.
“Handling my six month old.”
“They just seem so fragile and he is just so wiggly, I am constantly paranoid that I may accidentally drop him,” wrote a paranoid parent.
“Sticking my hand inside the disposal when I drop a fork In it.”
If you have a garbage disposal, there’s no way you don’t feel this one .
“I use two spoons to try and fish stuff out cause I’m paranoid one of my cats will turn on the disposal,” added another commenter.
“Using a mandoline slicer.”
Those slicey-dicey kitchen tools are no joke.
“Even using the safety guard I get a little queasy when I have to use it,” wrote the original poster.
“Drive in front of a police officer when I have no reason to be nervous.”
Does it matter that you’ve done nothing wrong? Of course not. You’re just afraid that you’ll mess something up and get pulled over.
“Calling off work.”
“If I actually manage to get through the phone call I spend the rest of the day feeling so guilty I feel worse than I would being sick at work,” wrote a commenter.
“Trying to mingle/start conversations in social settings where I don’t know anybody.”
Social anxiety is tough to navigate. One commenter says they need a buddy to act as an ‘anchor’: “Then everything is fine, I’ll talk to anyone. I need someone to go back to.”
“Putting my luggage in the overhead storage on a plane.”
“Major anxiety like what if I’m the last person on the plane and have to run around and look for a place to put my luggage,” they add .
“Approaching a green light that has been green too long…”
The comment continues , “…but you are getting to the distance where you don’t know where or not you should stop if you can stop,” perfectly summing up some common driving anxiety.
At meetings when they say, ‘Ok, everyone, let’s go around the room and introduce yourself.'”
“Even worse when they require stupid things like, ‘Include your favorite food and why you like it or ‘Tell us why you’re here.’ Uhhh…because it’s mandatory?” the commenter points out .
“Going to local bars when I’m not a local.”
“Those [rascals] can, like, smell you’re not from there even if you live the town over,” they wrote . “They all stare at you like you’re an outsider who needs to leave.”
“When my boss goes ‘can we just have a quick chat?'”
Sometimes things turn out okay, as a commenter points out : “Turns out I was getting a promotion to manager with a nice pay raise – that day was a whirlwind of anxiety and emotions.”
“Calling someone on the phone.”
“I’m a fairly outgoing person and I love talking to people, but I rely a lot on seeing a person’s face and observing their body language, which isn’t possible on the phone,” wrote the poster.
“Using my table saw.”
“I was always healthily scared of those machines,” adds another commenter. “You’d get trained up hearing the story of the lathe-hair girl and worse bloodcurdling tales. Always follow procedure, always double-check, always know the emergency stops, and if possible always have someone within shouting distance.”
“Parallel parking.”
This one just seems self-explanatory.
Let us know which of these you found relatable, and tell us what everyday things cause you unnecessary anxiety, in the comments below!
