The dentist makes me very nervous.
@Hawaii_Jake: “I’m in a play, and some days, I can feel myself getting worked up just for rehearsal. I wonder what state I’ll be in when it’s finally time to perform? Yikes!”
Sometimes when I am nervous, I look out for trigger words that I know are not useful or may be the cause of the stress. For example, “I wonder…” – stop! Don’t wonder. Wonder is merely you telling yourself stories, which for most of us are horror stories. If you can identify those moments when you ask yourself “what if…” – just stop yourself, or at least be aware that you are engaged in this storytelling to yourself. If you can do this, you might find that you’ll see the relationship between your internal stress level and these trigger words/concepts.
Good luck. You’re in a play. How cool is that?