Hey, Kelsey, welcome to PsychCentral (PC). Relationships are a great unknown, a learning experience, and I think a lot of us get anxious when thinking about starting a new one. What I do sometimes is think of it as an experiment, a one-time thing (the first date) and not let myself get carried away with the married and have children, etc.

Think of something you want to learn to do better (listen instead of talk, is one of my favorites for me, for example :-) and decide to practice it (and how to practice it) on the first date? Concentrating on a specific object or experience like that instead of what "it all means" can help keep my imagination and fears about the future in check. I like to practice learning about the other person and not interjecting so many of my own stories ("Oh! I had the exact same thing happen. . ." and I'm off :-) not getting so excited about myself and what I want to say can help soothe me too, as I'm putting the other person in the "hot seat" instead, LOL.