Overcoming Anxiousness by Listening to Your Truest Self

Anxiousness about what is to come is overwhelming so many of us. We are filled with worries about

schools opening or not, childcare or job uncertainty, personal and public safety in the face of illness, fear that freedoms are being stripped, a long history of systemic racial injustice finally brought to light but far from being healed, not to mention the stir craziness of stay at home orders and quarantine, masks, and social distancing. Every day I talk to someone who mentions feelings of fear and anxiousness. We feel as if we are unraveling.

It is easy and natural to get caught up in the grief and frustration of all this change. What is being asked of us seems very unfair.

But what if we begin to wonder with curiosity about how things might be different for ourselves? What if we surrender and ask for help even though it is uncomfortable?

If we get quiet. If we remember to breathe. If we listen to our truest self. The self that asks us to listen. To feel whole. To find love and compassion. To alleviate suffering. To be tender. To be truthful.

When we can find a few moments of connection with our truest self, we know that what is before us is a task of healing. We must find a way to heal first ourselves and then to offer that healing to our neighbors and loved ones. To find patience with our children. To become interested in the hearts of others. What more beautiful perfect work can there be?