The waiting

There's a recurring sort of wakeful scary dream that happens in the life of a writer.  It begins when you hit the send button or put the envelope in the post and doesn't let up until the response comes back.  Yep, it's submission time. More specifically, the wait after submission time.
I recently sent a short story to be considered for a new anthology being put together in the U.S.so I'm experiencing it again now.  This means my poor wife has to listen to my eager and random outbursts of "I hope they like it!" and "Maybe I should have written that differently."  She's very patient with me.
I thought now might be a good time to come up with some strategies for getting through the waiting with something left of the sanity you had at the start.

1. Enjoy it!  It's an exciting time - let your mind run wild with fun possibilities.
2. Breathe!  It's quite an important function, you know.  Also, it helps to calm the nerves.
3. Talk about it to someone who gets it.  Not your non-writerly workmates at the day job who may just look at you blankly and say "Uh-huh."
4. Remember that this isn't the only magazine/publisher/agent/competition in the world so the universe won't come to a grinding halt if you miss out.  And with that in mind...
5. Plan where you'll send the story next if this editor/agent/whoever is foolish enough to let it get away.
6. Focus on your next project.  The time will go quicker if you've forgotten that you're waiting.

That all sounds like really good advice actually.  I'll be sure to take some of it...just as soon as I check my email again.  It's been at least 24 hours since I submitted my story...there might be a response by now.