It’s 2am again, and I’m deep in thought about why it’s so hard for people to take back their grocery cart to the cart return area. Today, they left the cart right there in a parking space, less than 30 feet from the return. Grocery carts don’t need to park… they need to be used to shop. Wait, what if the wind begins to blow and the cart turns into the Buggy of Doom and rampages through the parking lot, destroying car doors along the way? Helloooooo, snap out of it… it’s 2 am, and this is what I’m thinking about?
Anxiety affects all people (read: everyone!) in different ways, but it is also true that certain people are more likely to lead an anxious lifestyle. In the book Redefining Anxiety by John Delony, he describes anxiety as your mind’s alarm clock that will alert you when something is going wrong. The problem is that we as a society have decided that anxiety is bad. A problem, a disease, a nuisance; take another pill for your anxiety… why won’t you? If you’re struggling with anxiety on a daily basis, I strongly urge you to keep reading below. Also, to check out Dr. Delony’s book as he goes in depth with real world expertise on the subject of anxiety.
The problem is that we as a society have decided that anxiety is bad.
Without getting super scientific, anxiety was originally designed as an alarm. Once this bell sounds, your brain tends to flip over into survival mode to combat the “threat”. In the old ages, anxiety would spark up if you saw a bear across the field that you are hunting for food in. Once this happens, your brain would enter fight or flight mode. Are you going to stay and fight this vicious predator? Or are you going to run, in any direction that doesn’t involve bears?
Anxiety isn’t a plague to be avoided at all costs. You aren’t a martian from another land not named planet Earth because you experience it. Let’s be real; in the current day society that we live in, there’s more than enough reasons for any individual person to be overly anxious at any point in a given day. When is the last time that you have just sat back, turned off all electronics, and just went with the natural flow of life? There are constant buzzers going off all day; a deadline at work, the baby screaming half of the night, social media notifications, Coronavirus vaccine updates, and the looming economic inflation. The only thing you’re missing are notifications from this blog to let you know every time a new post goes live. Kidding. But not really.
In the span of one day your brain scans millions of data points and then has to process all of this new information.
In the span of one day your brain scans millions of data points and then has to process all of this new information. This leads to a busy consciousness producing thoughts the entire day long, firing thousands of times a second with no break. A break-neck speed that is impossible to maintain for anyone. Today, breathe, relax, and embrace your anxiety as it may be sounding the alarm bell that you desperately need to listen to.
No Place Like Gone 