having trouble dealing with stress? here's a simple way of coping...

everyone has different ways of dealing with stress- maybe you draw, maybe you book a rage room, maybe you write in a diary- whatever the method, when stress gets to be too much, it can be hard to calm yourself down. so i'd like to share a method that has helped me, in the hopes that it will help others: if you can't calm yourself down by any reasonable means, try to relate your situation to something that interests you to make it seem less scary.

ive been stressing about getting my wisdom teeth taken out for like MONTHS now, and we're at the final few days of waiting- i get them out on wednesday. reasonably, ive been pretty nervous about it because it's a surgery... but i also dont do too well with medical stuff. and not a "my parents had to hold my hand when i got shots," nervous- a "my parents had to physically restrain me from running out of the room when i got vaccinated, and i was so scared of getting my finger pricked as a kid i literally opted for them to draw my blood out instead" nervous. i've obviously grown from my days of causing more stress for doctors than what's necessary, but i still get pretty uncomfortable from time to time. hell, im 20 now and i had to take my cow plush in for a nexplanon procedure. so as you can probably guess, im not too thrilled to be just fuvr days away from my first time under surgery. yes, the cow plush is coming with me, but around  twelve days, i was still freaking out a bunch. so instead of letting dread consume me, i decided to try and cheer myself up by attributing it to something i enjoy. i made a few posts about this on my tiktok, but since ive gotten into chainsaw man recently and have really been enjoying it, i basically made a joke post saying that i would have to get my wisdom teeth out soon, and was wondering "how [i could] make this about chainsaw man?" well, i make another post joking about the situation, saying that "the more scared i am of getting my wisdom teeth removed, the stronger the wisdom tooth removal devil becomes, and i dont want him to be strong," which again, i only started saying as a way to cheer myself up. but literally a few days later, i am no longer scared- let alone nervous- about the surgery at all. obviously im not excited for it either, but for the first time in months i dont feel terrified of having to get them out, and that is definitely progress. 

basically, if you're feeling stressed about an upcoming event, you need to apply the logic of something you're genuinely interested in, because it makes you feel less stressed about it. i hope this advice finds the right people. 

also, i cannot stop thinking about chainsaw man.