The Modern Fight against Anxiety

One of life’s ironies is that we spend nearly all our time chasing things we believe will make us happy, but the state of the world today shows that’s not quite the case.

We have access to most things our predecessors couldn’t even dream of, more options than we can count, and more exposure than we can possibly keep up with. 

We are overloaded with options, whether it’s in dating, shopping, watching or even learning.

Abundance rules our worlds and yet we are abundantly anxious. In the process of chasing and pursuing, we forget a fundamental truth:

Happiness comes from having a free mind. 

In case you’re wondering what I mean, here’s what a free mind is not:

🥴Racing with thoughts late at night when you’re meant to be sleeping (me)
😵‍💫Pursuing one thing after another only to feel more dissatisfied
😫Feeling stressed about the smallest events that happen 
😭Internalising anything that is said to you and taking things the wrong way
🤔Overthinking the worst-case scenarios all the time 

Get where I’m going with this?

Amongst all the other things we flaunt in the online world, having a tamed mind isn’t one of them, and if you ask me frankly, it’s only getting worse.

Restlessness and anxiety rule our inner worlds because we are increasingly attached to how things should be, rather than being at peace with what is.

Recently, I had an interesting exchange with one of my young (and incredibly evolved) listeners who shared how she overcame her 7-year struggle with anxiety.

(Here’s the episode she’s referring to)

Notice the profound truth that she highlights about acceptance- it’s the starting point to solving any kind of problem, whether it’s coming from the outside or within ourselves.

Inner peace seems to be the result of accepting (not settling) circumstances rather than being in conflict with them, which, to be honest, is a whole journey of its own.

Our world is dominated by narratives that are about fixing more than celebrating.

Fix your body, fix your face, fix your feed, fix your grades.

It’s a never-ending trap of trying to get things right just so we can finally feel calm, confident or enough- or so we think.

Real calmness can be attained by accepting who we are, where we are in life, and dropping the list of endless Should’s that we keep piling on ourselves:

“I should have the perfect body to look great for the gram.”
“I should have the best job to succeed.”
“I should have a million followers to be accepted in a certain league.”
“I should control everything around me to feel safe. “

The truth is that no amount of job switching, wardrobe upgrades or people pleasing will guarantee that inner sense of peace we’re all seeking. That peace will only come from shifting the meaning we give our thoughts and choosing not to be defined by them.

I’ll leave you with this beautiful quote from the beautiful man, Peter Crone:

In case you missed me last week

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