There are three types of stress reactions: fight, flight, or freeze. I am the slightly lesser-known freeze type. The deer in headlights. I can be easily overwhelmed. That might be why I liked the first Marie Kondo book so much – it took things step by step, and it felt like she was gently guiding you through the journey, to easy anxiety or trepidation. The reader of the English audiobook had a calm soothing voice that helped me feel like I could do this, and everything would be ok. I need a conscience or some other invisible voice that soothes me like this more often.
I took an elective on-line college class on coping with stress about a year ago. I think I need to dust off the reading material and notes. You see, even taking a class like that was less scary for me. This presented books and materials that were approved by some unseen professor. Do you realize how much easier that is to trust, vs. wading through mounds and mounds of proclaimed self-help books? Where does one even start? Browse covers, read reviews? Yes, that’s fine. But do you realize how many reviews are out there? Which ones do you put more stock in? Do you start looking at the length of the book, and consider 300 pages might be a better buy than 150 because it potentially has more material and resources? Sure, there are peer review journals, but those can be a big dry with case studies and statistics. Those can be helpful for valid references, but not necessarily easily applicable in one’s life seeking self-improvement. Even if I were to not like all the information in that stress class, at least it presented ideals that were carefully pruned and presented in sequence for learning and evaluation. I can get overwhelmed just looking at all the great Ted Talks there are out there. There are so many I find it paralyzing knowing where to start.
I bring this up because for those of us directed to stay at home during the COVID-19 situation, it can be challenging. Being cooped up can cause one to feel stir-crazy. I know I do. So I am trying to look at it as an opportunity for self-improvement. Although I still work more than 40 hours a week from home, I should relish this extra time to boldly go . . . where. That’s where I get stuck. There are so many things one could do, right? But where to start? Or how to decide? I am the one who feels like I need a break because I get overwhelmed with the possibilities until I feel like a failure for not doing more in the first place and have to talk myself down from a mini-panic attack. I’m the one who has a hard time really internalizing that idea of 1000 miles beginning one step at a time because I can’t stop gaping at the entire map, studying terrain, projected weather patterns, locations for potential supplies, and could get caught up in an hour search and evaluation for the perfect long-lasting and comfortable shoe and how much it’s going to cost me from various places.
Maybe I need to begin with meditation. The whole idea is quieting one’s mind, right? I think I could use some of that.
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