On Anxiety and Fear
We operate as sponges: we absorb and surround ourselves with elements that affect us.
Consider this day and age, how fast information travels and how powerful our virtual connections have become.
Now consider if your ability to filter that information out is indeed strong and healthy. Think about every reaction that got you triggered every time you logged in your Facebook and started scrolling to see angry, sad or super-happy people.
There are events, people, faces and messages that trigger every one of us because they appeal to our most basic fears and desires.
What is happening in the world right now makes no exception; There IS a disease surrounding us and the initial train of thought I had was “but this is a civilized society, it can’t be happening”. Much of what we think we know, much of how we expect the world to function is based on personal experience. And if personal experience until now has been linked to mostly comfort, some challenges, some minor setbacks, maybe the loss of a family member, maybe the loss of an important relationship…but in retrospect, all minor, when you consider the bigger picture, the real threats and the random possibilities that could swallow the earth into a black hole at any time…
We, humans, have created this status that turned into a religion, into an entire belief system: that we, somehow, are superior to nature. That implies that we command nature. Truth is, things are pretty random and the only real control we have is minor, compared to how nature works.
It might feel like “the end” but it isn’t…It might be the end of certain things we knew about. It might redefine industries, education. It will most definitely change aspects of our lives. How when and to what extent is beyond our present knowledge.
And it is precisely this key aspect that feeds our anxious minds. We cling to certain possible scenarios and we have yet to see them play out. Think about all the times you thought you lost control so much that your life was about to end…And tell me: did it?
All the possibilities that haven’t yet played out, plus the measurement of becoming socially distanced PLUS limiting the places we can go to, see, touch, smell or taste is a strain; a strain on your mind.
You feel like giving up; You feel like stuffing yourself with bad food because why not. Or you feel like binge-watching Netflix, binge scrolling Facebook, binge tapping Insta Stories. Because somewhere in there, your anxious brain is telling you the end is coming so why fight it?
Your body will feel all of this; your head will hurt, you will feel foggy, your muscles will feel weak, your eyes heavy.
Do you know what puts a shield between you and anxiety?
It’s your sapient intelligence. It’s the same intelligence that creates anxiety in the first place. Where fear lives, so does the ability to transform it. Where numbness resides, so does the creative fire. Only when you stop running from yourself, you begin to listen to what you’ve been saying all along.
It’s not my place to tell you what you SHOULD do during these difficult times. I could show you countless training programs to do at home. I could share with you how I cook my meals, where I find the best sources of protein to order online so I don’t depend on big commercial stores to procure that. But it would feel unavailing. The reason you feel stuck, disappointed, scared, restless (yes, extremely restless), afraid of disease, afraid of some kind of failure…the reason you feel like the world is disappointing you…
It is because you are disappointing yourself by not going within. Looking inside shouldn’t feel comforting either and if it gives you the feeling that being idle is good, then you’re not looking at all the parts that make you.
Stop running. Shed old beliefs. The world doesn’t own us anything, but we do owe something to ourselves. It’s time we stop scrolling through Stories and start creating our own story.
Whether that means discovering training for the first time, sticking to a routine you were familiar with at the gym and tweaking that so you make it work from home…or simply stretching, meditating, keeping a daily thought journal, analyzing who you’ve been up to this point…
It’s up to you. But it’s a journey you need during these times, more than just trying to emulate what other people on social media are doing.
