Who knew that so much could happen in a period of just twenty-four months, right? Two years ago, our world forever changed–and it looks to be changing again–in numerous ways–with current conflicts and challenges at both home and abroad.

We may even begin to ask ourselves: “what do I even possibly begin to do right now, when everything seems so chaotic, stressful, and unpredictable?”

For me, if I have learned anything in these past twenty-four months, it has been to control what I can control. With so many negative things in the news, it can be pretty easy to think that everything is quite bleak right now (and hopelessly destined to perhaps stay that way for the foreseeable future).

I have to admit: The first three months of 2022 have been a time where I have overdone it–even by my normal standards.  Since the calendar turned over for this year, these past three months have been anxiety-laden and they have felt overwhelming at times. One of the things that has worked, however, for me, is to try to be more present-minded. Anxiety, stress, and worry often seem to flair-up the most when we may be looking (rather hopelessly) too much to the past or worrying too far into the future. This makes good sense, too. The past cannot be changed; and weeks, months, and years into the future often are too far off–and with too many different variables and things that can happen–that can make situations suddenly shift in a hurry (which, then, only makes it even that much harder to predict or fully plan for).

I would even say that the busier and more stressed we are, the more important it probably is to be more present-minded; to only try to think about the current day as much as we can (or only think about the current over-scheduled week, and not a future over-scheduled week–or month–that follows, for instance).

Taking-On Too Much:

Since the start of the new year, I have been taking a Master’s-level course at my alma mater university; keeping up with my long-distance running training schedule (with the hopes of getting ready for a triathlon this year); prepping for a presentation and planning of a state-level conference earlier in March; trying to plan for a professional-based get-together later this Spring; along with work (and taking on some extra things, like setting up a couple field trips for students and coordinating a day for Senior students to complete their college applications); completing my daily readings and working on my Spanish-language skills (each, a half hour a day, six days a week); prepping for some legislative advocacy work on a couple of Education-based initiatives in Michigan; and getting ready, in April, to drive down to Columbus, OH., as part of a multi-day High School Counselor Advisory Board annual in-person gathering. Some of these things, of course, can be equal parts exciting and anxiety-evoking–all at the same time!

More to the point, I definitely do not say all of this in any strange sort of way of humble-bragging or self-congratulatory chatter. I say this because sometimes we maybe do not give ourselves enough credit for all that we are already doing, and we can help our own life-cause if we just go ahead and list it all out on paper (like taking a mindfulness-like inventory, if you will, of our current level of quality of life). I think the pandemic has taught, or shown, a lot of people that we are not machines; we have to know when to slow-down (or stop).

Knowing Our Limits:

For the first time, in quite a while, I felt like I hit a wall, so to speak. How did I know? I had trouble focusing and concentrating on my regular daily readings and my readings for class (and also not really wanting to do a number of different things that I had initially been excited to do). Those two things really jolted my senses. Usually, I can “lock-in” almost anytime that I want to, but, with greater frequency, I have been fighting against wanting to relax (for about a month straight!) verses aggressively attacking my to-do list. Even committing to writing once a month, here, has presented a challenge. But I decided that going ahead and writing a short article might be cathartic to me (and potentially comforting to some readers), so I decided to push ahead despite any initial reservations.

I have learned more about myself in these early months of 2022 than maybe any other point in my life–and what I am capable of (and what my limits also seem to be).

Heading into the third year of this global pandemic has not been easy for a lot of people. A lot of folks are dealing with heavy grief and loss; financial difficulties; relational strains; work fatigue; small and large stressors; and anxiety over a world that seems less predictable by the day.

What’s Next?

Heck, even just thinking about some of those aforementioned things is stressful, no? That is why I keep going back to the idea of controlling what we can control and focusing more on the here-and-now. Our to-do lists might be ever-growing, but what can we do, right now–today–to reduce our stress and anxiety, while simultaneously increasing our happiness and peace? It’s OK for that thought to sound equal parts incredibly simplistic and maddeningly elusive–all at the same time. But that is life, sometimes.

For me, I think my next evolution in growth may come from finding better ways to decompress and relax, and to not take-on more than I probably should take-on at any one given time. Yet, with that said, I am currently forced to find creative ways to cope with a jam-packed schedule. If I think about six jam-packed schedules in a row (I practice a slightly-modified ancient Sabbath approach to life on Sundays), then I stress myself out six-fold–each and every day. But if I only focus on one jam-packed day at a time–the current day–then I feel a little bit more in control of a (very) busy season of life. But we all need rest; we all need time to pause and reflect. Today’s hustle culture is not healthy, and I need to be very careful not to buy-into the allure of that (unsustainable) way of living.

–The Blue-Collar Counselor