What can you do to reduce anxiety in the current climate ?
Benjamin Franklin once said ‘in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes’.
I would like to add that another certainty is change. Change is inevitable. And as a species who finds solace in the familiar and predictable that can be unsettling for us.
Recognising that as a species we have evolved and will continue to do so can help us recalibrate. If you speak to someone born only a couple of generations ago (or if like me you may recall yourself!), you will be aware just how much has altered around us in a short space of time. Computers, the internet, mobile phones, video conferencing and streaming are things that only a few decades ago were unthinkable.
The current climate we find ourselves in highlights the advent of change. In a previous blog I spoke more about our need for certainty as a species. It helps us feel safe when we can predict what is coming. Therefore change can leave us feeling like our foundations are being rocked and the rug pulled from under our feet.
A foible of the human condition is that once we feel that certainty is established, we crave new things, something different and to grow. Change then becomes exciting! And so the cycle continues.
As my passion as a coach is to empower others, I wanted to focus this blog on this question:
what can we do to reduce our anxiety in this climate ?
One answer is to adopt flexibility into your mindset.
Flexibility will allow you to release from the mindset of ‘how it should be’.
When we become stuck on ‘how it should be’, we can see how people become judgmental, frustrated or angry of others who ‘break the rules’ and live by another set of standards.
We become critical of others because they aren’t conforming with how we view the world. We develop a ‘them and us’ and ‘right and wrong’ mindset.
We can feel disempowered when what is happening around us is not in our direct control. It can lead on to a sense of fear and anxiety.
If we release this expectation of ‘how it should be’, we free ourselves of the emotional conflict we can carry within us.
Flexibility can empower us.
If we come to realise we cannot control others, only ourselves, then we are released from that conflict. Being in charge of our own thoughts and actions is ultimate empowerment. Others can tell us their reasoning and beliefs. But it’s our choice how to respond. We can choose whether we take on their perception. If we remain flexible in our thinking and reasoning it allows us to choose our response.
With a flexible open mind, we can be more optimistic.
If we decided to look at the opportunities, to focus on what has become available to us we become more open with an optimistic view. We can grow confidence in ourselves and believe that whatever future events arise, we have the ability to handle them.
Flexibility opens our minds to try something new.
It creates choice points and options for us. More choices give us the potential for a different result. If something you tried hasn’t worked out, you can try something different and see whether that has a preferable result. Choice gives us the power to take control of where we are heading and our destination.
Flexibility allows you to adapt and bend and flex with what is presented to you.
Along with scientific findings of our modern age, I like to draw on the ancient wisdom of our past civilisations philosophy and so I wanted to leave you with the Greek fable about the Oak and the Reed.
The Oak stood tall and strong, believing in this solid stature and deep roots he would weather all storms. The Reeds by the river bank instead were fluid and bent with the wind, returning to stand straight when the wind passed. One day a furious storm blew in with strong unyielding winds. The Oak fought hard to stand tall, rooted firmly to the spot. Eventually the storm overpowered him and with a crash his roots ripped out of the soil and he fell to the ground. As the storm passed and the weather settled once more, the Reeds who had remained flexible through out survived the storm intact.