We find ourselves dealing with extremes. Climate change, destructive weather, apocalyptic pandemics, the speed of modern life, family trauma, and an overwhelming feeling that we aren’t safe crash in on each other in a sea of uncertainty. Truth is no longer true. Calm, critical thinking has been thrown out to be replaced with paranoid fear and violence.
In this perceptual reality, stress overwhelms the nervous system toward anxiety, depression, insomnia, and the intense fear that not only can’t we achieve the future hoped for, but maybe we can’t even hold on to what we have. Our life formulas aren’t working. And we secretly ask will we survive?
But the truth is that we can thrive in the midst of chaos around us.
There is a place inside every human, that no matter the tumultuous outer circumstances, peacefulness, calm mind, immense clarity about what to do, enormous humor, a pool of self-compassion and stability resides. These resources live in every person.
Years ago we ran our clinical practice in an older house surrounded by old trees that had been there over 80 years. Their roots grew deep into the soil so that even in the worst of storms, they not only survived but thrived. Consider your own trees of stability. What roots do you have that lets you weather the storms of uncertainty? Focus on these when you feel frightened. The truth is that these resources were found in us when we were children. As we grew up into adults we called on them throughout life. Write down your own elements of stability and focus on them.
Then reflect on your biology. You calm the mind by breathing more deeply. Turning on the relaxation system in the body and focusing outside yourself allows you to feel more in control.
Stay Safe!