What comes first, fear or economic chaos? Companies as varied as Yahoo, American Express and Time Inc. are laying off employees. Corporate profits are falling. The stock market is in a chaotic panic. House prices have plummeted. Consumer debt is on the rise. The US economy is in a full recession and possibly a depression.
Money and the economy top a long list of stressors for Americans, as reported in a recent study by Harris Interactive and the American Psychological Association (October 2008). Eighty percent (80%) of Americans are stressed about the state of the economy.
So how do you handle the unwavering stress that comes with tough economic times?
Identify fear, anxiety and stress
The first step in overcoming stress is to correctly identify it. When you’re afraid, your blood pools in large muscle groups like those in your legs, preparing your body to flee. His body freezes for a moment to gauge his possible reactions, such as what is the quickest escape route. The brain sounds the alarm to put your body on alert, making it nervous and ready for action. Accompanying this is an overwhelming rush of anxious and fearful thoughts that seem to be uncontrollable. This intense cycle of fear and worry can paralyze you. It also paralyzes the rational mind, making it difficult to think clearly.
Fear and stress are closely related. When fear is triggered, the emotional brain begins its anxiety dance, forcing the brain to focus on the perceived threat. The fearful mind spins in an endless loop of negative thoughts. Fear is at the heart of all stress.
Stress is fear extended over time. It is the general alarm reaction that makes the nervous system sound when it perceives that they are making a demand that you cannot handle. Once the alarm has focused your attention, the negative thought spirals, racing heart and muscle tension will no longer help you. Rather, long-term stress causes damage to your body on multiple levels: difficulty thinking clearly, damage to your arteries, brain cell death, and limiting the number of options available to you.
On the plus side, stress and fear can be managed depending on how you approach it. Nothing is more important right now than learning to manage your stress – the fate of the entire world may depend on a critical mass of people staying calm and coping with stress.
turn off the alarm
Once the stress is identified, the second step is to turn off the alarm. This is done through exercise, deep breathing, meditation, prayer, or other means to clear the mind of negative thoughts. If you haven’t yet learned how to clear your mind, a good place to start is my book, ‘Self Guide: The Beginner’s Guide to Managing Emotion and Thinking.’
Courage, Bravery and Heroism
The third step is to realize that courage is the antidote to fear. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is overcoming fear. This step implies taking concrete actions to continue moving in a constructive direction. By rephrasing the question as “What am I willing to try?” it can make change exciting, rather than paralyzing. Courage is not the absence of fear but exorcising it. Feel the fear and move on anyway. It is the conquest of fear that makes one brave. You cannot be brave without fear. Think of courage as a virtue to be exercised daily rather than imagine it expressed only in acts of heroism. You are brave… every day.
focus on gratitude
Another way to recover from stressful times is to turn your thoughts daily to those things you are grateful for. This simple act connects you to your higher, more centered self. To do this, think about the following:
Are you alive. You are loved by others. You can see, hear and breathe for yourself. You can read and understand these words. You can vote in a country with freedom of expression and religion.
These are all basic concepts that are often taken for granted. Make your own daily list of things you are grateful for. By cultivating gratitude, you consciously turn your thoughts away from the thousands of voices adding to the atmosphere of fear and begin to stem the tide of stress.
Look for the positive meaning among the rubble
Finally, look deeply into your current situation and find all the positive meanings that can be drawn from it. Every situation exists to teach you something. Your best strategy is to discover those life-changing lessons in difficult times and use them to motivate you toward positive, constructive action.
An example of a life lesson in this situation is realizing that you are resilient, you will survive. And with that knowledge comes power (“If I can survive this, I can survive anything”). With full awareness, allow yourself to calmly and rationally consider what options are available to you to create your best possible future.
Remember that our country has survived such economic difficulties in the past and we will survive this one. Americans are very resilient. We will bounce back from this difficulty with more energy, more innovation, and more wisdom than we ever had before. That’s what we do, because we are Americans. We don’t just roll. We bounce.
