Archive for overwhelm
Overwhelm: Another Way to Say “Life Happens”
Posted by: | CommentsI feel overwhelmed today. Not that there’s anything wrong with that . . .
What Me Worry?
Somehow, the amount of “stuff” I have to do almost always exceeds the time and resources alloted to do them. But it wasn’t always like that.
I remember – as a hippie musician in the early 70’s – that life took on a more existential hue. Life was new and fresh . . . stressful to be sure, but not overwhelming. I was young, full of hope, although I understood that the older adults I knew seldom shared these feelings. There was stuff to do, but no real urgency to do them. Responsibilities were still a distant idea.
These days – as an older adult myself – I understand how their anger and pessimism crept in. I, too, feel the burden of responsibility and share their growing fear that maybe the world will eventually succumb to the weight of the media angst and drama that gets more blatant every day.
Of course, things change. People change. Nations and cultures rise and fall. What else is new? Meanwhile, I’m occupying this little spot on a virtual reality called Now-on-Earth-Current-Time-Space and often forget that this whole dizzying pace of change will eventually come to a halt . . . when the Big Bang decides to call the troops home!
So I’ll give you the advice I’ll probably forget to take myself . . . Relax. Chill out. Learn from guys who know how to relax AND get stuff done. Or drink a beer and watch the game. Do what you can and leave the rest. Like Scarlett, worry about that tomorrow.
Then watch all those OTHER workaholics freaking out because they thing all this stuff’s serious, and you are being irresponsible! Imagine that. It seems like overwhelm is a mandatory participation sport called “life.”
Peace and love. Dude.
Self-Sabotage and Anxiety
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Anxiety Self-Sabotage
Self-sabotage manifests itself in different ways. One of those ways is through general anxiety and panic attacks. Symptoms are many and varied:
Ever feel frustrated and overwhelmed to the point of losing your breath? Ever have a feeling like the world is crashing in around you and there’s nothing you can do? Do these symptoms carry over into your business, work and relationships, causing things to blow up or fall apart?
You’re not alone.
Sudden anxiety – and the so-called panic attacks – are based on organic decisions that boil down to (believe it or not) our instinct to survive. Fears like fear of falling and of loud noises came about, in part, because they were related to causes of death, pain and suffering on the part of our ancestors. Fears like these were encoded into our DNA, and are hard to shake. Professor Walter B. Cannon in the 1920’s referred to this as the “fight or flight” syndrome – a tendency to either run away or fight when faced with danger.
While the hard-wired fear of falling and loud noises may be there, our conscious minds play a part in that we create stories and make up stuff that may or may not be true – but are related, in part, to our hard-wired fears. We may be about to lose our jobs or marriage, for example, and this feels like falling. Although there is no immediate danger, our survival instinct kicks in as if there were.
No matter how rational we might want to be, our subconscious memories continue to touch the live-wires called our DNA, nervous system, and endocrine system. Once triggered, our body reacts as in a real emergency and shuts down all but the most essential survival functions. If this happens enough, we become “stuck” in this pattern and our organs, systems – and our potential for happiness – burn out quickly.
Anxiety can be channeled, however, by using a few simple steps. Through conscious awareness, energies that surge through the body that cause the heart to race and palms to get sweaty can also create the opposite effect. Techniques like meditation, Logical Soul(tm), and Panic Away can stop the panic and bring calmness and peace back to the body and mind.
Anxiety can effectively destroy any or all aspects of your life and happiness. Take care of rampant “fight or flight” reactions, and your full potential for life and happiness return.
