"The key to anxiety, as to psychological stress in general, is this: it is not so much an event or circumstance that brings on an attack of anxiety; it is the significance we ascribe to that event, the way we interpret it in our own mind.
"I remember a classic illustration of how the mind works in this regard, where a woman spending the weekend in a prominent hotel in New York was kept awake throughout the night by someone banging away on a piano in the suite next door. The next morning, tired and irritated beyond belief, she stormed into the manager's office and demanded, 'How can you allow such a thing to happen? I'm holding you personally responsible!'
" 'But madam,' the manager responded smoothly, 'that suite is occupied by the great Paderewski. He must have been practicing for his concert tomorrow in Carnegie Hall. People will be paying a small fortune to hear him play for a couple of hours, and here you have been able to listen to him all night long.'
" 'Paderewski! In that case, please let me keep the room after all.' And the same woman who had spent a whole night fussing and fuming, tossing and turning in frustration, sat up the next night with her ear glued to all, listening to the wall in devoted delight."
