Keep Anxiety Calm

“Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.” Proverbs 12:25

What a week this has been. If you’re in the United States your Monday possibly started similarly to mine, where you were going about your daily routine and dealing with each thing as it came. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but there was a whisper in the wind. Something that had been heard for a while now, but wasn’t too alarming. Coronavirus. COVID-19. Yes we’d heard about the cases in China where a dozen or more hospitals were built just to handle the issue, and about the quarantine in Italy where only one family member at a time could go into the store. We even knew there was a cruise ship off the coast of California where persons were being tested for the virus. We’d even heard that there had been some casualties, but nothing to ensure panic at your house, or even in your city. All that changed on Wednesday. Between Wednesday and Friday at least 10,600 public and private schools made plans to close for weeks at a time. Cruise Lines stopped travel for several weeks, even pulling passengers who had already boarded off the ships. All major sports ended their seasons early. Disney Studios shut down both theme parks. And the country panicked.

I am a creature of habit and schedules, and so far March has been dedicated to the emotion Anger, but my experience in life and the advice I give to my clients is to address the trauma as it comes, otherwise you’ll be dealing with it later and it has the potential to be harder. So for this entry, I’m going to bring center stage and address the emotion I know many of us are experiencing right now as our world is in shambles from something beyond our control: Anxiousness. For some, its probably super small, because you know it’s beyond your control and you like to roll with the punches, so there’s no outward expression of nerves. For others, and I’m in that boat as well, it’s a little bigger. What is going on????? Maybe you’re worried about getting sick because you have a compromised medical history, are older, or younger, or sickness just worries you. Maybe you struggle with isolation and the thought of being home alone or with your kids for an unknown amount of weeks gives you butterflies. Maybe you went to get groceries and the isles were bare. No toilet paper, hand sanitizer, cleaning products, frozen meats, milk or bread in sight. Maybe you know that no matter how careful you are, you have no control over what the person next to you is doing to protect themselves. No matter what is causing anxiety for you right now on a personal level, the entire country is having a full blown panic attack and it’s impacting all of us.

So what do we do? How do we get past this? Obviously, we have to play a waiting game. We don’t have the answers so all we can do is trust that the powers that be will have our best interests at heart and will work diligently to bring this to a head. We also have all the precautions that have been preached to us from every corner of the media: wash your hands frequently, cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing, keep hand sanitizer at hand for when you cannot wash, and most importantly, when you feel sick STAY HOME. If we follow these guides we are giving ourselves the best chance of being less impacted. You can also do your shopping and stock up on your vitamins, antibacterial cleaners, and the foods and supplies you need to limit your interactions with possible carriers of the virus. All of this is good, and will help with the small anxieties. If your anxieties are a little bigger, those help but not as much. So what can you do to calm the noise in your head that is telling you to panic?

The scripture I want you to remember in this situation is this: “Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.” (Proverbs 12:25) Worry is going to weigh you down. The situation is heavy enough as it is, don’t let worrying about it make it heavier. Give yourself permission not to carry the weight of this worry on your shoulders and make yourself let it go. The bible also tells us in 1 Peter 5:7 to “cast all your care upon Him (Jesus)’ for he cares for you.” Jesus has already carried so many burdens for us, let him carry this one too. He says it’s ok and He doesn’t mind. He’s better equipped for it anyway. The second part of Proverbs 12:25 tells us that an encouraging word cheers a person up. We know this to be true. People like to be checked on and hear encouraging things, because it makes them feel safe. But do you know that no one has more power to make you feel safe than you do? No matter what good things another person tells you, if you don’t open your mind and heart to receive it, it won’t work. YOU have to let positivity in so it can keep anxiety calm.

So what’s the best way to do this? How do you keep anxiety calm? Think happy thoughts. Positive affirmations is a tried and true way to talk yourself out of worry and into positive thinking. Create a list of 10 positive thoughts for every negative one you have. Why so many? Because a one on one fight is fair. If you only have one good thing to think about for the one bad thing then they will fight and there’s a 50% chance that the nerves will win. If you bring 10 positives to fight that one negative, positivity has a much better chance to win. Also, turn off the news. Media is designed to talk about what is going to generate the biggest reaction. They want to be remembered so most of the time, media covers the stories that make you angry or nervous. Log off of social media, turn off the news stations, walk away from the chats that are discussing nothing but the nerve rattling topics. And finally, surround yourself with people who will uplift you. If you know you’re anxious about it, let your circle know you need to talk about good stuff or that you need a distraction and most likely they will oblige! Find that safe space.

The world is a scary place, but you don’t have to be worried about that. Hopefully this plan of action will make getting through these next days, weeks or months a little easier.