Yesterday, I went back to school to help my teacher to prepare for the new school year.  Today, we sat through more meetings.  I am tired of sitting today.  I was proud of myself because the buses to take us to the district meeting left 10 minutes earlier than they said they would.  I missed the bus.  A friend and I decided to drive there.  I had to look up the location on my phone.  I drove there during rush hour traffic and the traffic was extremely heavy.  We waited 20 minutes at the exit from the freeway.  Sure enough it was all the people going to the district meeting.  I didn’t panic.  I found a parking place and we walked inside just as they started the meeting.  We made it.  The theater was dark with flashing lights.  I was able to tolerate it by shading my eyes from the flashing lights.  When the lights stopped flashing I actually enjoyed most of the program.  I felt some anxiety.  I brought my notebook for notes so I started making a list of things for me to do tomorrow while the teacher has meetings.  Distracting myself in a way that kept me calm in that environment was an awesome feat.  I started to worry about the traffic leaving.  During a break in the program, I used my phone to plan our escape route when the meeting was over and 5000 people were heading back to all the different schools.  The meeting ended.  We were able to get back to my car thanks to the kind police officer directing the traffic.  Used my planned route to drive back to the school in time for me to have lunch before another meeting.  I did it.  I didn’t hide in my room distressed that I missed the bus.  I found a new solution and carried out my plan.  When I felt anxiety, I used my strategies to cope.  My butt may be sore from uncomfortable chairs but my spirit is light because the coping skills I put into action worked.