Hello Peace. I can understand and sympathize with you. I think that you were smart not to go shopping. Generally my anxieties are under control these days, but I still have to be careful.
The other day I had to go to the dentist, interview a potential volunteer for an organization I'm with, see my brother about a family issue, do a little shopping and I thought while I'm in town I'll also get my vehicle e-tested. I know all of those things can cause me a certain amount of stress, but when I laid out my schedule, I never thought anything about it. That was a mistake.
Each item piled on a bit of stress and by the time I got to the e-testing place, my anxieties were starting to mount and the place was running 30 minutes behind schedule. I should have just cancelled my appointment when they said I would have to wait. Instead I started to overly worry about the vehicle not passing and if it failed what would it cost to repair it, where would I get the work done etc etc. (I've never had one fail and I had no reason to think that this one would fail, so my thoughts were irrational to start with).
My heart started to pound, sweat started to roll off of me and I must have looked ill as when the tech guy finally came he asked if I was ok. Well the vehicle passed with no problems, but I had to take a break before I drove home and I was still shaking when I got there 45 minutes later.
In reality, what had happened was that I already had, had a stressful day and I should have known (from past experiences) that I had too much going on that day and it would only take a little to trigger an anxiety attack.
So you were smart not to go shopping and I was dumb in not cancelling something on a day where I knew my stress level was already too high. I know I got a lot done that day, but once upon a time doing that much would have been easy for me. I have to realize that I have to live within my limits as they are now. That doesn't mean that I can't strive to do more, but allowing myself to get into uncomfortable positions only sets me back.
So don't feel guilty about something that is too hard to do at this time. It doesn't matter whether it seems simple or not, if you are not up to it, you are not up to it. You made the smart choice and cancelled. Take Care. paul m