OK! Good work!

So, your heart races very fast - that is a symptom of physiologic anxiety. The best treatment (not that I do that, because I find breathing exercises boring ) is to breathe through it. Do not try to stop thinking about it - think about it, but breathe deeply as you think about it. Deep, conscious breathing is supposed to help with anxiety. By breathing through it, you will be facing the trigger, rather than evading it.

Now...

... a bit about myself - you will see how it is relevant.

I have anxiety about not having enough food if I have people over. I do not live with my children now, but back when I did, I would literally buy wholesale quantities of dips, chips, salsa, etc. at Costco for the parents who MIGHT come stay with their kids during birthday parties I had for my kids. Every year, most of the food would go home as leftovers, barely touched, and last for weeks. I did not learn from experience - I would do the same thing again and again, as if thinking "But what if THIS time all the parents come ravenously hungry and stay with their kids throughout the entire party, even though it has never happened before. WHAT IF???"

I now examine the underlying anxiety and notice that it is due to my upbringing. Both my grandmothers would cook for a big crowd even when they expected a small party. But still, they prepared a lot of extra. Just in case. WHAT IF people come unusually hungry. What IF?

Now that I think about it, I realize that I experience some kind of basic, primal fright when I think of running out of food and not being able to offer a dessert to my guests. When I experience this kind of primal instinctive fright, I do not even dare to think of what would happen in the worst case scenario.

However, if I do force myself to think of the worst case scenario, then it does not appear so bad anymore:

- OK, so what exactly will happen if I run out of food?
- My guests will not be full.
- And what is so catastrophic about, if I think about it?
- Well... I guess... they will not be impressed... they will be a little hungry... they... they...might not want to visit me again.
- Will I survive?
- Yes, I will...

See - if you force yourself to keep asking questions, it might not seem as catastrophic. Say, what could happen if they do not find you pretty or intelligent (we do not see your pictures, but based on the posts, you appear intelligent without problems)? What could happen? They... might not invite you for a second date. And what would happen then?.. Then, you will be disappointed. But will you survive? You will!