I don’t care who you are, we’re living in uncertain and difficult times.
There’s trouble all over the world to worry about, and we’ve got our own list here … load and pot are the key words (I won’t go into the list here — there’s only so much space for this column).
Beyond international worries such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, global warming, food security and the never-ending variations of Covid that come visiting, there seems to be a heightened level of what might be called “every day anxiety”. The effect (directly and indirectly, personally and broadly) that this will have on our wellbeing is significant.
Anxiety is a personal thing. It is difficult to share your burden or even be aware of others’. Sometimes the cooler the managed exterior, the more active the pressure cooker inside.
Primal causes of anxiety, such as health, safety and security, love (or its absence) and so on, are for professionals to ponder and treat. I’m not going there. I’m at the bottom of the hierarchy of anxiety causes, stuff we have to deal with, for which the cure is known, however elusive and difficult to implement.
Perhaps the most common cause (across countries and cultures) is economics; more specifically, financial security or wellbeing. If you’re “short” at the end of every month, life is hardly worth living, and Janu-worry is the worst month. I’ve long held the view that the value of money is not measured in its abundance, but by its absence.
You’re not alone in this; in fact, you’re in abundant company. But that’s the other thing about anxiety — it doesn’t matter how many people are in the same position, it’s your worry that’s worst, and it’s the only one that matters (and there’s no upper limit to wealth beyond which money isn’t a worry). Solution? You have to either earn more or consume less. The initial angst in getting there will be worth the peace that ensues.
The trouble is information overload. I was brought up in an era when nobody knew (or cared) what the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing programme might be, where we are in the interest rate cycle, what the inflation outlook is, whatever ... and we thought that hawks and doves were just birds. Now we know enough to worry the hell out of how we’re going to make it through the recession (if and when that arrives). At least at some level it’s just numbers, and we can work with that.
There are more complex levels. How we look and feel, fashion, appropriate behaviour, and things of that nature, depend on the tribe you identify with. I use the word “tribe” loosely to define a collection of people who have more in common and share the same values. I’m finding it difficult to identify a tribe I feel comfortable with to call my own.
Every so often there’s a new vocabulary we have to deal with. Until recently I used the word “woke” to refer to when I opened my eyes this morning. How limited was I?! It means a lot more now and the extent to which we need to be aware of how others might see or interpret our actions and utterances is overwhelming. What was OK before is not OK now, and what’s OK now may no be OK next year. I’d better stop writing about it.
The only way to get through the maze of challenges we face daily, to try to be happy (FFS) is to separate those things critical to your survival that you can do something about. For the rest, best you start filing them under “Things I no longer give a f**k about”. Most of the world doesn’t give a f**k about you, mate. Don’t let them win.
I’m finding it difficult to identify a tribe I feel comfortable with to call my own
An anxious state has consequences. As I write this I hear the printer peeping. I’ve had a busy day, it’s after 5pm and I haven’t had lunch yet. I gave the printer a look. I’m surprised it didn’t clear the jam itself. Finally, I calmed down and ripped the offending sheet of paper from the bowels of the offending machine. After a few clicking and sliding noises it went back to printing — clearly not disturbed by the trouble it had caused me — that’s its job. I know, robots also irritate me.
I could make a long list of little things that irritate me, but that’s due to the levels of anxiety I start the day with.
Ditch anxiety. Rise above it. Be rude occasionally, but don’t let the anxiety bug bite.
I’m going for lunch.
