Coping With The Stress Caused By Planetary Chaos

28 Sep Coping With The Stress Caused By Planetary Chaos

Photo by Callum Skeleton on Unsplash

The Covid-19 virus has created a much greater awareness of how ‘we are all in this together.’ The whole planet is affected by the current pandemic and there really doesn’t seem to be, at the moment, a clear end in sight.

We have, in the past several years, become more concerned about the condition of our planet, the disagreements over climate change, and the harm that we have caused with pollution, oil drilling, fracking, mining, and so on. While attempts have been made by various governments to agree upon a comprehensive strategy to ‘fix’ all of this, very little real progress has been accomplished. But the corona virus seems to have more clearly focused the entire population on a common enemy.

Even with the collective realization that the virus is still killing people worldwide, many of our state and local governments are inconsistently applying protocols to restart the economy. Opening up restaurants, bars, and other public venues too soon will logically continue the spread of the virus.

The pandemic has already created more stress in everyone’s life simply by creating changes in work routines, restricting social interactions, and isolating people like nothing ever has before. With many of the clients I have worked with, change is one of the most constantly identified fears that they experience. The feeling of lack of control over one’s life is always in the forefront, even without a pandemic and government mandated restrictions. Does this additional stress have an impact on our relationships and our environment? Of course it does.

If, for example, the planet is one humongous living organism and people are like fleas on the back of a dog, how could our social, political, mental, and emotional stability possibly affect the planet upon which we live? Do areas of the world experiencing extreme upheaval politically seem to have more weather related problems than others? Is this one of the reasons we have a higher than usual number of hurricanes making landfall in the U.S. this year? Does what happens in one part of the world socially have an impact in the topographical turmoil that pops up in another part of the world because of how the earth is inter-connected? One has to wonder!

Friedrich Nietzsche is credited with saying, “out of chaos comes order.” Although there is some disagreement on its origin, according to Benjamin Zimmer, the Chinese symbol for ‘crisis’ does represent a danger and an opportunity. (You can do a Google Image search for the different interpretations of the Chinese symbol). If the chaos or crisis that we are experiencing with the current situation of our planet represents an opportunity, then what is it for you?

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that more than a million new businesses have been created in the six months since the pandemic began. It seems many people who lost their jobs decided to follow their dream and create one for themselves. This, to me, is the best example of turning a crisis into an opportunity. Coping with the stress of becoming unemployed was turned into a more motivating and exhilarating kind of experience.

Starting a new business is only one example. Teachers, who were forced to go online, have created their own tutoring businesses to help students continue to learn in a safe environment. Restauranteurs have amped up their take-out and delivery service, and discovered a whole new revenue stream of possibilities they hadn’t considered before.

There are still many people who are unemployed and unsure of where their next dollar will come from. Government subsidies are being depleted and chaos is an almost certain daily experience. The overwhelming amount of negative energy being generated is counterproductive, which is fueled by public protests that often become violent. It’s clear that focusing on the negativity in the world only reinforces and produces more negative energy.

But if we choose the opportunity presented to us to focus on the positive, we can collectively bring about positive change. You always have to remember that your state of mind and maintaining a positive perspective is the only thing that will change your situation. Continue to meditate daily, sit in the silence and listen to your inner voice, and be the change you wish to see in the world. That is where you exercise your control.

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