Anxiety and depression can be caused by a myriad of factors, from biological predispositions to elements of our environment. The triggers are many and varied but once these forms of distress take root, they are perpetuated and exasperated by a maladaptive way of attending to the world. To understand the attentional stance that drives anxiety and depression, we will begin with the analogy of the look versus the stare. For it means that there are many possible worlds for each of us to experience. Some of these worlds are conducive to a life well lived; others are not.