Whether it manifests itself as worry, fear, rumination, obsession, compulsion, or shyness, anxiety is everywhere, and it causes no end of trouble for just about all of us. But at its core, anxiety serves an important purpose: to neutralize uncomfortable ambiguities. This book begins with a whirlwind tour of anxiety: what causes it, what we think about it, and what it might look like. Then the book looks at some of the approaches to treating anxiety and poses an intriguing question: What if you don't need to get rid of anxiety in order to live a terrific life?

Things Might Go Terribly, Horribly Wrong approaches this breakaway hypothesis through the mechanisms of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and presents a series of thinking points and short games readers can do to easily and effectively begin to incorporate ACT techniques into their lives. This book is not a full-scale self-help approach for someone with serious anxiety problems, but an easy way for readers who have wrestled with worry, fear, and shyness to put those feelings into perspective and focus instead on what they want to do in life. This book will help readers foster the flexibility they need to keep from succumbing to the avoidant forces of anxiety and open themselves to the often uncomfortable complexities and possibilities of life.