The one thing I always wish for in my personal life is to have more free time…. and now during these strange times, I find my wish coming true. But, never could I imagine it coming with this heavy overlay of fear: fear for my safety and the safety of my loved ones, fear of economic struggles and fear of an uncertain future.
Research shows that a person’s IQ can fluctuate as a reaction to scarcity of resources. Long-term perspectives are traded in for short term survival decisions. Lately, my decisions are being made through a fog of fear. My anxiety is high, my personal productivity is low and fear is clouding everything that I do.
I should be more careful about what I wish for, as the saying goes.
We are all in this together, and are all experiencing similar emotions. So I thought I would share the things that are helping me lift the fog of fear.
Embrace Our Authentic Selves
During a professional development exercise, I was asked what my most important self care activity was. My answer was meditation. For me, regular meditation reduces stress, strengthens focus and makes me an overall happier person. Sounds like something that would be beneficial during these difficult times, right? So, what did I stop doing as soon as the pandemic started impacting me… meditating.
My anxiety was causing me to abandon many habits and characteristics that have helped me function as my best self. In times like these it is easy to regress into a survival mentality, as Rutger Bregman explains:
“You all know this feeling, when you’ve got too much to do, or when you’ve put off breaking for lunch and your blood sugar takes a dive. This narrows your focus to your immediate lack — to the sandwich you’ve got to have now, the meeting that’s starting in five minutes or the bills that have to be paid tomorrow. So the long-term perspective goes out the window. You could compare it to a new computer that’s running 10 heavy programs at once. It gets slower and slower, making errors. Eventually, it freezes — not because it’s a bad computer, but because it has too much to do at once.”
Source: Rutger Begman’s 2017 Ted Talk – Poverty Isn’t a Lack of Character
Recognizing and acknowledging these tendencies is important. We should be taking this new found time to reflect on our successes and embrace the habits that shape who we are today. Easier said than done…. trust me, I know. But, we shouldn’t stop being ourselves… even if fear tries to tell us otherwise!
Don’t Let Fear Diminish Our Compassion
During these strange times, I also noticed myself starting to become a “hoarder.” Not just a hoarder of food, money and coveted paper products, but a hoarder of compassion, empathy and emotional support. I found myself reluctant to contribute to relief funds, participate in volunteer opportunities or hesitant to check in on friends and family; none of which reflects my authentic self. I evoked the concept of faith, something that doesn’t often resonate with me (this article was a source of inspiration). Placing faith in my own resilience and the goodness in the world…. as well as facing the cold realization that no amount of hoarding can protect me from harm helped me to squelch my inner hoarder.
Give Ourselves a Break
Let’s not be so hard on ourselves if we are not a precision machine of extracurricular productivity. These are strange times…. unprecedented times, as the media keeps proclaiming. It is okay if we didn’t get around to organizing our sock drawers or painting our kitchens during this pandemic. We should cut ourselves some slack. Times like these are the opportune time to practice self compassion and approach our evaluation of ourselves through the eyes of a caring friend, instead of a fierce critic.
And, if you are reading this, that means I am lifting the fog of fear and also conquering my pandemic fueled writers block. This article is the spoils of my inner war between fear and faith. I do not intend to minimize the seriousness of today’s situation. I know many people are suffering, physically, emotionally and economically. And the world will never be the same after this passes. But I wanted to share my experience in hopes that it can bring a little comfort to those who are also trying to find their faith in the fog of fear.
Photo Credits: Cadillac Mountain (Bar Harbor, Maine) by Danielle Bradley