Fighting intrusive thoughts

My daughter and I took a little 3 day trip down to Tennessee earlier this week, just to chill and have a change of scenery. Before the drive down, I kept having these horrible thoughts of getting into a deadly accident, having to turn around immediately after arriving, my daughter being kidnapped, etc. I pushed through and still ended up going, repeating to myself that I am safe and I keep her safe.

On our 1 full day down there, I decided we would go see a waterfall nearby after her nap/lunch. When we got there, I realized that the parking lot was at the top of the falls and to get down was VERY steep and there was no way I would be getting down there with her strapped to me (not cause of anxiety, although that did play a role lol, but because I am not very athletic) so we stayed at the top. I tried to get as near to the edge as my rampant anxiety and intrusive thoughts would let me so we could see the falls from above. It was beautiful there!

On the drive back, I continued to have "what if the car breaks down?" (Literally its a 2024... What?!) "What if I get in an accident?" "What if I run out of gas?" (Literally a full tank which gave me over 100 miles of a cushion lol) etc.

But we made it home safely (although there was a bit of throw up early-ish on 😅) and I am so glad I still went and met my intrusive thoughts with logic and calmness instead of giving in. It was HARD but worth it! 🥰

(Picture of the falls from as close to the edge as I dared. Not much water was going over unfortunately, but still pretty!)

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