Finding Calm In The Midst Of Chaos
It is not easy to live in the midst of chaos. It’s not easy to keep your balance when the attack comes. When the wind swirls around your head and whispers messages of fear and uncertainty in your ear.
We are made to anticipate and react emotionally, decisively and quickly when panic strikes. However, the perfect solution in the midst of all these scenarios is calm.
From a psychological and sociological point of view, we already know that the word of the year 2020 will be ‘fear’. Current events are already showing every facet of this term, in behavior and attitudes ranging from the irrational to the more integrative.
The latter are those who accept the fear, but choose to deal with it by taking proactive actions to try to solve the problem.
Psychiatrist Karl Augustus Menninger pointed out that fears can be trained, leading to progress in life. It’s easy to say this, but putting it into practice is perhaps the most complex and traumatic thing a person can do.
Chaos comes knocking on your door and takes away your composure. In your mind you go crazy, worse, you infect others with your behavior. By doing this, the fear grows further and becomes uncontrollable.
In these situations, you need to sow and germinate ‘calm seeds’. You can train yourself to do all of this, because fear itself, as well as worry and irrational behavior, are just other viruses that we can learn to control.
In the midst of chaos…
In the midst of chaos, we must adopt a mental approach based on calmness. We have reached a point where we are all (metaphorically) sick of all the bad news. You can see it on television, radio and social networks. The disturbing information, the disturbing facts and the negative messages outweigh the positive ones.
In addition, negative news is generally shared before hopeful news. You often take it all in, without even filtering it with thoughtfulness and without sometimes checking whether those facts are true or not.
Well, it’s true that we have a right to know things. Information is power and we need to be connected to everything that happens. However, there comes a time when circumstances and information begin to overwhelm you and a sense of powerlessness awakens in you. Not knowing what might happen tomorrow is what most frightens and limits us.
We are creatures used to controlling things in our immediate environment (or at least that’s what we think). However, when you suddenly realize that you are in the midst of chaos and that what you took for granted yesterday is today uncertain or no longer there, it hurts and confuses you.
What can you do under these circumstances?
Calmness is a behavior and it comes when you accept that you can’t control everything
In a context of uncertainty, fear increases. In addition, there is another factor: our environment. The information we receive, the people around us who convey their emotions, and their fears… All of this increases the fear as well as the feeling of insecurity itself.
For example, it is much worse not to know if you will lose your job than to know that you have already lost your job. The brain will act in a different way. So you have to learn to tolerate uncertainty.
You have to realize that even though you have no control over certain things, you do have control over what you choose to respond to. That’s the key. Acting calmly is the best attitude. It is the mental approach that allows you to respond in the most sensible, reasonable and balanced way by doing your best.
Clear your mind: eliminate catastrophic thoughts
In the midst of chaos, catastrophic thoughts don’t help at all, they just get you down. In the midst of difficulties, doubts or problems, your mind should be your ally and not an opponent hindering you at every step. It is therefore vital that you learn to clear your thoughts.
Any thought that bothers you and creates fear instead of helping you find a solution adds another problem to the whole situation. Be aware of these thoughts and eliminate your negative internal dialogue. Calmness should be like a beacon that can guide you in the dark.
In the midst of chaos… who do you choose to be?
Something that can help you through difficult times and in the midst of chaos is to ask yourself: who do I want to be? Do you want to be the hero or the victim? Do you want to be the one who helped or the one who made the situation worse? And do you want to be someone to be proud of or someone who chooses to be immobile and panicky?
You choose and determine the path you leave behind. You choose what you get out of these days, days when we all have to do our best. In crisis scenarios, calm is that companion that can guide you along more serene and successful paths. You will see things more clearly and you will know how to react and how to be proactive and responsible.
It is time to activate your sense of calm, in a time full of changes and uncertainties. Let’s do it together, with peace of mind, intelligence and composure.
