Driving the Car | Stress Reducing Tips | @caroline-cavanagh | The Anxiety Alchemist

12 Feb 2026 · 1 min

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Caroline Cavanagh explains anxiety as future-focused worry and depression as past-focused regret, both pulling you away from the present moment where nothing is actually wrong. She uses driving as a metaphor: glance ahead occasionally, check the mirror, but keep most of your attention on the road directly in front of you. Redirecting focus to now reduces anxiety.

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Anxiety is often triggered by things that are in the future that haven't happened and probably won't happen. Depression is more commonly triggered by things that happened in the past and you can't change. But rarely do we spend most of our time focusing on the now, the time frame where there is often no risk whatsoever. So I want you to think about managing your thoughts much like driving your car. You may glance further ahead because if the traffic lights are changing red, you want to take evasive action that will keep you safe. You glance in the rearview mirror to see what's behind you, but you spend most of the time in the now. And when you're driving along, there is often no risk there at all. So if you're aware that you are thinking about something way ahead, remember, you don't drive your car like that, so don't manage your thoughts like that. If you're stuck in the past, you don't drive your car by looking in the rearview mirror. Remind yourself to focus what's immediately in front of you and feel that anxiety reduce. Give it a go.