# What are Your Mantras to Get You Through Anxiety, Panic, Stress, Despair and/or Impending Doom? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 19, 2020, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150 "2020-02-19T04:30:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/1 "2020-02-19T04:30:31Z")
Title says it all. Please, Dopers, share your words of wisdom. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/2 "2020-02-19T04:35:42Z")
God, I’m fucking awesome! or Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil: For I am the baddest mother fucker in the valley. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/3 "2020-02-19T04:54:20Z")
If this is the worst thing that happens this [fill in timespan], we’re doing pretty well. Depending on the immediate cause of the anxiety, panic, stress, despair, and/or impending doom, adjust the timespan. Late for the meeting? If this is the worst thing that happens today, I’m doing pretty well. Car broke down, but relatively conveniently in the driveway? If this is the worst thing that happens this week . . . Couldn’t plant the crops on time, and will be lacking six different major things at market? If this is the worst thing that happens this year . . . and so on. Incidents that call for filling in “this lifetime” have been, so far in my life, pretty rare. Then there’s always this sequence, best told with a Yiddish flavor: So, things are bad? Well then, two ways that could go: things could get better, or things could get worse. If things get better: well then! Things got better! What were we so worried about? If things get worse: oy, well, two things could happen from there: things could get better, or things could get worse. If things get better . . . [continue until your audience walks off, or hits you with something.] ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/4 "2020-02-19T05:02:38Z")
The root of all suffering is desire. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/5 "2020-02-19T05:29:24Z")
Embrace the suck. When addressing large groups of people I imagine them sans epidermis. (Imagining them in their underwear doesn’t work because some people actually look good in their undies. But sans epidermis, we are all equals!) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/6 "2020-02-19T05:38:44Z")
Courage. Tenacity. Perseverance. Courage. Tenacity. Perseverance. Courage. Tenacity. Perseverance. Courage. Tenacity. Perseverance … I dislike written tattoos as a rule (e.g. “Wynona Forever” or “Born To Be Free”) but would like perhaps someday to ink those 3 words onto myself in some cryptic way, where it’s not just straightforward text if that makes sense. - Background: For some reason, in the hellish days right after my husband’s death when I saw no compelling reason to bother slogging on with this “being alive” bullshit, because the pain & bewilderment were so mind-bendingly excruciating that I could not breathe, those words were as much as I could hold onto. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/7 "2020-02-19T05:42:32Z")
“Fuck this shit. I’m not putting up with this one moment more.” is a favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/8 "2020-02-19T05:56:34Z")
Not a mantra, but being constantly aware (as much as possible) of all the good fortune I have had in my life, and focusing on that rather than on problems, has served me well over the past 30 years, once I figured it out (or had it pointed out to me). Someday some horrible thing may happen where this doesn’t work, but in the meantime, life is good. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/9 "2020-02-19T07:42:35Z")
Whip it, into shape. You gotta get right back where you, started from. We have got to get it together, now. slightly longer one: You’re foolin yourself, if you don’t believe it. You’re killing yourself, if you don’t believe it. Get up, (Get up!) get back on your feet. You’re the one they can’t beat, and you know it. Yeah, come on, (Come on!) let’s see what you’ve got. Just take your best shot and don’t blow it. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa Oh, Oh, OH!!! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/10 "2020-02-19T12:51:55Z")
Fuck it. It is a very empowering phrase. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/11 "2020-02-19T13:10:55Z")
“This is not nearly as bad as the bad times on the submarine.” Since I left the Navy, this never fails for me, but I understand it may not work for everyone. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/12 "2020-02-19T13:34:20Z")
“Chill out, it’s not the end of the world. Only the end of the world is the end of the world.” This helps me take things less seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/13 "2020-02-19T13:43:51Z")
“At least I’m not pregnant.” ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/14 "2020-02-19T14:17:35Z")
This isn’t a mantra, but when I’m facing problems that seem overwhelming, I like to break the problem down into components, prioritize what needs addressing first and then tackle the components one by one. Instead of facing one huge problem, I end up addressing a series of more manageable issues. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/15 "2020-02-19T15:17:54Z")
Totally hokey but the Serenity Prayer really resonates with me. > [@](#): > > God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. It just reminds me that the only thing I can really control in most situations is _the way I react to those situations_ and that is it. It lets me tune out like 90% of everything else and and just focus on getting myself good. Like putting on your oxygen mask before helping others. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/16 "2020-02-19T15:24:25Z")
When work gets me down, I look at the time and think: Can I survive this for X hours more? Hell, I could be survive being beaten for X hours more." Someone once told me you don’t have to live your life. You only have today to get through. And if you feel you can’t get through today, you can get through the next hour. Or the next five minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/17 "2020-02-19T15:25:41Z")
“I’ll have _just one more_ beer!” Eventually, I’m right, every time! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/18 "2020-02-19T15:31:25Z")
Dance around, don’t care who sees☺️ ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/19 "2020-02-19T16:12:39Z")
I tell myself the following when I do an embarrassing thing in public: No one noticed you. And even if they did, they probably aren’t thinking bad things about you. And even if someone is thinking bad things, they are probably a jerk with nothing better to do. Jerks with nothing better to do aren’t worth worrying about. Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150/20 "2020-02-19T16:25:52Z")
> [@](#): > > I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. Very surprised to be the first to mention this. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-mantras-to-get-you-through-anxiety-panic-stress-despair-and-or-impending-doom/848150.md?page=2)