Planet Em Don’t React, Regulate: How to Stop Overthinking While You Wait
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Mar 16, 2026 A candid dive into the anxiety of waiting and why the brain amplifies past threats. Stories about dating and a road-trip revelation illustrate impatience and trust. Practical focus on nervous system regulation, surrendering the how and when, and choosing grounded responses over reactivity.
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Road Trip Revelation About Patience
- Emily McDonald told a dating story about feeling anxious early in a relationship and telling her dog Treya to "stop crying, it's coming."
- The gas-station moment made her realize she needed patience and that she was consoling herself the way she'd console her dog.
Scuba Certification Taught Hard Lessons
- Emily described learning from a difficult attempt to get scuba certified that pushed her into discomfort and taught lessons she later journaled.
- She used the plane-ride to write every learning lesson so she wouldn't repeat the same mistakes.
Stress Skews Your Perception Into Threat Mode
- When you're outside your comfort zone your nervous system flips to fight or flight and perception becomes biased toward threat.
- Amygdala activation pulls up past experiences as evidence, so memories of previous hurt feel predictive but aren't accurate for the present.