Anxiety: What Can It Teach You

I am writing this at what may be the tail end of the Covid 19 Pandemic of 2020. It has been almost 6 months of things being up for grabs - circumstances out of my control exerting unwelcome influence on my way of life. My social networks have been confusing since most of my relationships are being maintained online or by text messages and I’d much rather talk face to face. My work as a pastor of a church has been difficult because changing circumstances makes me “do” church differently almost every week and I had to keep people from fraying when that is exactly what people were doing. Luckily my marriage has fared well, but the worldwide stats seem to indicate that people being holed up in their homes with each other for so long has resulted in higher incidents of divorce filings and inquiries. These things have caused a lot of people a lot of anxiety.

One of the biggest things that has been at the mercy of circumstance is my competing in triathlons. I love training for triathlons. I love competing in them. This was going to be a big year for me. I was going to complete 2 whole Ironman competitions and one ½ Ironman Competition. So far, I have completed none of them because they’ve all been cancelled. There is one more still on the docket, but it seems likely it will be cancelled like the others.

But, I have kept training like none of them have been canceled.  Grinding out laps in the pool, miles on the bike, and especially steps in the running shoes – the least favorite of the three disciplines.  I have lost some motivation these last weeks – wondering if all the training is worth it.  Are there going to be any events this year?   Well, if there are , I will be ready!

That is how I am looking at the Covid 19 Pandemic - this time that seems to leave so many things up for grabs. If this were a time of training, what would I be ready for when this is all over - however society, work, and play may look then?

I had lunch with one of my best buddies today. I was telling him about this blog and I wondered what each of us were learning from this time that would outlast the pandemic. I wasn’t sure if I had an articulate answer. He did and I discovered my answer was the same.

He said that he learned a lot about anxiety.

He is a front-line worker – an Emergency Room Nurse. He recalled the night before he was going to be on the front line in a surge tent with full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). He was full of anxiety about the risk of exposure, his adequacy to help people, his ability to handle seeing the sick and dying in a pandemic situation.

As he shared what he learned about anxiety, I realized my answer was the same thing. My situation is different but similar. I, too, consider myself a front-line worker as a life coach and a pastor. I have had my share of sleepless nights as I worried about people’s isolation, marriages and families that were under more stress than usual, and the practical side of paying all of the church’s bills when income was decreasing on a weekly basis.

As we sought out ways to be braver and stronger together, here’s what we have learned about anxiety:

1. Many moments are not permanent. Most of the things we each worried about have worked out or are working themselves out.

2. Engaging the situation is a good step. Crossing over into anxiety is not. Anxiety is ambiguous, destructive and inconclusive. Engagement is strategic, constructive and results-oriented.

3. Do what you have the power and ability to do. Utilize your resources (people, experience, tools) to move the needle toward the positive. This includes trusting people and processes that are outside of your influence and control. For my friend and I, we are men of faith. Our go-to resource guy that we trust is God – and then each other, our wives and other important and reliable relationships.

Wouldn’t it be a shame if these past months of ambiguity and isolation were wasted when the Covid fog lifts? What has this time trained you for? How can you tap into your anxiety for positive results? What new habits have you been forced to develop that can carry over as a part of your “new normal” – especially when it comes to dealing with anxiety?

#anxietyrelief #anxietyrecovery #anxietywarrior #momentsmaynotbepermanent #engageyourreality #useanxietyasamotivator #tapyourresources