Anxiety and panic are becoming a regular part of our lives today, more than ever before. A sad generation, hiding behind memes and laughter often originating from forcing issues. While our posts on social media are endowed with road trips, a tour of the coast, and people just having a gorgeous time, the reality in the daily news betrays the garb of mirth. The news is filled with homicides, suicide, rampant divorce, and neglect and abuse cases too frequent to be reported.
Like most mental issues, panics and anxiety are manifestations of other underlying problems that cannot be handled at the moment. People don’t just get anxious. They find themselves between a rock, and a hard place and their immediate capability cannot help them out. Here is the path to anxiety and panicking which unfortunately offers no solution whatsoever.
We long for peace of the mind and hope-filled life, but we can’t seem to have a firm grip on the same. No sooner do we settle down than we are pushed to lament over the perplexities of life.
Anxiety does not have a medical prescription other than prevention or dealing with its triggers like all mental issues. Here are some of the ways to keep stress and panics in the neighbour’s compound:
- The principle of “One Day at a Time.”
This has much to do with our philosophy of life. How do you approach life? How do you deal with some disturbing realities of things we cannot deal with? You have just realised that you cannot meet all your financial needs for the given period. You cannot figure out where you see yourself in the next three years; what do you do?
The majority of people are not as happy as they are supposed to be because of the fear of the unknown or of the future, bleak and black. There is a principle in the gospels that Christ gave to the world; the principle of one day at a time. This principle calls to deal with the demands of today and let tomorrow fit in. It is a call to be happy even if we don’t know how tomorrow will be so long as something can give hope for today. It is not an invitation to squander what we may use for tomorrow. Instead, it is a call to afford peace after meeting the needs of today, even if tomorrow is not yet pocketed. Don’t Solve the burden of forever in one day.
- Keep off Toxic relationships.
A lot of people are sad because of toxins that emanate from relationships they hold dear. Toxic relations drain your peace and keep you in a state where you cannot enjoy life. If you must endure for it to work, it is enough reason to log out. Avoid forcing yourself into spaces you are not celebrated. If celebration comes to you served on a platter of opprobrium, it may be necessary to think twice.
This does not mean that you cannot find solutions to the everyday challenges of relating with others. Instead, it is a call to be wise enough to know that relationship and abuse are two different things.
- Avoid Addictive Substance
Addictions are one of the chief triggers of anxiety. I have met a man who was fully persuaded that a day without liquor would result in his funeral. He could not be stable without the intoxicating drink. If there is a reason why addictions are hard to break, it is because of the behaviour change which comes with it. Everyone caught up in the fetters of substance abuse is often left in depression and anxiety when confronted with sobriety. A decision to live a life of teetotalism and sobriety is one of the best decisions that one can ever make. I would not advise you to reduce your liquor intake or pornography consumption. You should have stopped yesterday! Happiness or euphoria is safe if achieved naturally and not by overtaxing and shortchanging your dopamine transmitting pathways in the limbic system.
- Living within your Means
As an Economist, anytime I hear about living standards, I get fond memories of my first-year economics class. I remember the concept of budget constraints that everyone experiences. Based on one’s disposable income, there is a level beyond which one cannot attain. It is an economic error to have an expenditure of thirty thousand when your disposable income is twenty thousand. You will end up accumulating debts that become burdensome and lead to anxiety and potential depression.
It is safe to suit your taste to your financial muscle. I am not limiting you from having a BMW X6 as your dream car, but you must not forget where you are now. If it cannot afford maintenance for the German machines, there is no harm in working with whatever is workable for you now. We will stand and recognize the intimidating wheels of your new car, but the mortgage is between you and your financial intermediary. Only budget for what you need and can afford. Avoid the temptation to intimidate others. No one is competing with you.
We can keep anxiety out of the bay by dealing with its triggers and changing our attitudes about life. If you have done your best, it should be good enough. How much more can you achieve by fear and panic, warranted or unwarranted?
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