Saturday, October 11, 2014

Anxious World

Choosing Calm

Today I choose life. Everyday when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain...To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices—today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it.” Kevyn Aucoin

Yesterday, my friend, Anna, and I had a conversation about how much anxiety is free-floating in the world right now. The Ebola crisis, the Ukrainian crisis, the Syrian crisis, the ISIS crisis, the refugee crisis, the Enterovirus D-68 that is sickening children here in the US, the racial divide that is once again heating up—it seems the world is burning from within. We are all on edge about it. Even if you aren't a person who follows the news, the anxiety of this time is inescapable because we are all connected. We feel the frustration, the exhaustion, the fruitless efforts, the desperation of people all over the world.

There are no magical solutions. Our best option is awareness of just how strong and universal anxiety is in the world, and in ourselves, and doing whatever works to stay calm. It's true that keeping calm is difficult when all around you seems chaotic, and it's also true that being anxious doesn't help anyone, especially ourselves. We can take news breaks—turn off whatever source we use for news and do something engaging. We can stay conscious of how our thinking activates and accelerates our anxiety, and change our self-talk. Affirmations help: “I am okay in this moment. I am healthy and free of disease and discomfort. I can live my life without anxious thoughts. I can go through my day without obsessive worry.” Prayer also helps. “God, help me to stay calm and free of anxious thoughts today. Help me to trust in you.”

We live in difficult times and everyone around the world feels it. We can help each other by offering encouragement and kindness. We can embrace our own humanity, realizing that excessive anxiety is a choice, and calm is also a choice, and as human beings, we are free to make the choice. Today, let's put away anxious thoughts.

                                                    In the Spirit,

                                                         Jane

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