Dear Heartbrokengurl:

Congratulations for going on that date! Not only did you show up to the date but you participated very well in it, reads to me.

I am sorry you are dealing with the STD, I wish you didn’t. But it is what it is.

You wrote: “I need to learn how to relax and trust the process, but I can’t.”- it really is impossible for an anxious person to relax upon command: you cant think, I must relax and then find yourself relaxed. The way it works is you expect yourself to be anxious, and you trust that over time, a long, long time, you will be less anxious. Little by little… by little. This process of healing from anxiety is extremely slow. Lots of patience is required.

Slowly, over time, incrementally… just this evening, one evening, one night at a time. And then the morning after, another day.

Please do post again with updates.

anita