If you are in touch with the media, as most of us are most of the time, you are aware of the severe economic times we are in. The entire world is being affected by economic crisis. Many countries have experienced this and worse many times over. In a recent survey it was reported that 89% of Americans are having some trouble with insomnia due to anxiety over the state of the economy. All the media reports are designed to instill fear in us and when we feel fear we look for ways to escape or to protect ourselves. This is called “fight or flight.” We have adrenaline pumping in our bodies, causing increased heart and breathing rates, even sweating and trembling. This can be continuing on an unconscious level so that we don’t even know how badly it is affecting us. We are not designed to live like this for any length of time. Fear is not good for us. Worry for the future shuts us down in the present, which is where we need to be living.
Outbreaks of depression immobilize our bodies, making them feel heavy and weighed down. Our minds become fogged and closed, as if shutting down. For security we often want to hide underneath the covers or escape into addictions.
The most dangerous state is denial: when we refuse to look at our reality and pretend that everything is just fine.
Tremendous anger turns into rage and resentment, which is harmful to the body and spirit. We don’t even know for sure with whom we are so deeply angry. It’s often turned in on ourselves, and we blame ourselves, even though we don’t know for what.
What can we do when faced with these overwhelming feelings and thoughts?
1. Realize we are not alone. This world-wide problem is not of our making. Pick up the phone and talk to friends and family and share honestly what is going on. Listen sincerely to their plights and offer them support and comfort.
2. Take care of yourself. Guard against letting yourself go when under undo stress. Stay well groomed, clean, eat regularly and in a healthy way, and also brush and floss your teeth. Keep a home and office environment as organized as possible.
3. Take personal inventory. What thoughts or events prompted your anxiety? What are you afraid will happen? What aspect of yourself is threatened: pride, security, physical safety, relationships? What needs to be dealt with and can be changed, and what is out of your control? Be realistic and honest with yourself.
4. Turn to a higher power. This may be a universal source, or whatever is greater than you are, to clear your thinking, to give you solace, a power to overcome the debilitating effect of negative thoughts.
5. Seek help from a professional or mentor. So you can make clear decisions that our truly in your best interest, this should be someone who you believe will be honest, nonjudgmental and who can help clear out all the destructive emotional debris from the past as well as the present. This should be someone who will call you on your impulsiveness, fears, and discouragement, which help you keep from making fight or flight choices that could prove harmful to you in the long run. Finally, this should be someone who helps you keep faith in yourself and reminds you to stay positive.
We need to change our minds and get into our hearts. We need to make a personal choice: to stop struggling and to accept the situation we are individually in. We need to choose not to be a victim, regardless of our circumstances. We need to turn off all the negative messages bombarding us and turn on faith in ourselves, in those we believe in and trust, and in a higher power. We need to face the fear and do all that is positive for our life. Only then do we have a chance to really come out of this in a better place as whole, having grown, human beings.
Book Of Life 