Many people today, myself included, are feeling lost and without purpose. The world itself is actively changing, and so many of us feel as though we’re “going through the motions” and we’re struggling to find the drive or will-power to pursue anything. Instead, we’re more likely to dig in our heels and do what feels safe and comfortable.
And who can blame us?
When the world is in chaos, the known is our sanctuary. The known protects us from outside influences. The known becomes the norm.
And what ends up happening to us at this point is that we stagnate.
We stop growing, we stop looking for challenges, and for some of us, we stop really living.
How do we get out of that mindset? The mindset of the known, which says, “I’m afraid and there’s too much going on, so I’m just going to stand still until the fear and anxiety passes me by. And maybe when things calm down, I’ll try new things again.”
There’s not a magic pill to overcome that mindset, but I do have some ideas to try.
Like many others, I’m often overwhelmed with fear and anxiety of an acute nature, and I’m trying to find a way to get myself out of this emotional state. Which has led me to find different forms of solutions to help myself heal:
- Connecting with Family/Friends
- Anxiety Support Books
- New Medications or Higher Dose of Medications
- Therapy (EMDR)
- Anxiety Classes
I’m still working through and using all of above solutions, but for now, I want to focus on the anxiety support books, which include:
- Change your Mind and Your Life will Follow
- Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
- Hope and Help for Your Nerves
- Nervous Energy: Harness the Power of Your Anxiety
I’m currently reading Nervous Energy, but all of these books have been an attempt to help myself heal from a traumatic event in June that has left me constantly anxious and panicked.
The good news is that these books share a common goal: to teach you how to survive and thrive.
They say, in different terms, that even as an emotionally compromised person, you are still human and more than capable of surviving this experience, whatever it is, that has led you to feeling anxious, depressed, alone, and/or afraid. You are the key, you need only find the lock in yourself.
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why my struggle with anxiety was the introduction to this post when the title is Productive Zeal, and I’m getting to that.
Years ago, I wrote a blog on being zealous, and Nervous Energy reminded me of the importance of finding something to be zealous about, only now in the perspective of being zealous with your energy. This is how the fear, anxiety, and depression are tied to Productive Zeal. Note, this book focuses on nervous energy being used productively, but I think there is high possibility that the logic and tools behind redirecting nervous energy can be applied to anxiety, fear, and panick.
Using the emotions that are causing me distress in a positive and productive way is one of the things that I’m hoping I can teach myself to do.
For example, lets say you’re at work and suddenly a random thought enters your mind that makes you feel immediately panicked (chills through your body, the urge to run screaming out of the room). What do you do? Most of us lock the emotions down (if we can) and focus on work because we’re afraid of losing our jobs. So, we try to hide it or fight it, and we end up miserable. And if it goes on long enough without being addressed, we breakdown and become useless to anyone, even our work.
One of the tools in this book is to write down that emotion or feeling to revisit later when you feel that it’s an appropriate time to do so. Such a simple tool, and logical, something I should’ve thought of but never even considered: an emotion to-do list.
Genius, right? Imagine, when you start panicking or feeling anxious, just pulling out a mini notebook or piece of paper and writing down what you feel with a note to follow up later.
That’s a very… project management type of response, in my opinion. Which is probably why it feels like such a good idea to me, but I can’t help but feel like this is potentially a fantastic tool for anyone to use. If writing something down is how we better remember things, why wouldn’t we jot down a quick note on how we feel so we can remember it and work through it if we need to later?
Digging into productive zeal, this emotion to-do list is a perfect example of how you can take an emotion and make it productive. It’s the action of doing something rather than doing nothing that makes you productive, even if it’s something small like a list. And the zeal comes in when you dig into how you’re feeling and why you feel that way so that you can look for ways to make that feeling either go away or re-direct to something else.
We are all capable of productive zeal.
With this in mind, there are nine tools listed in Nervous Energy, and I’ve only just started digging into how to use them to turn my emotions/energies into productivity. I’m hopeful I’ll have more to share later. So, for now, I would ask that if you are struggling with fear, panick, anxiety, and/or depression, to be patient with yourself, and ask for help.
I’m not a therapist or psychologist, so I’m definitely not an expert in this field, but I’m hoping that by writing down my thoughts and the potential solutions I’m looking into, others may find a connection to their lives and may begin looking for ways to heal too.
If you or someone you know is struggling with depression and anxiety, or perhaps is feeling they may harm themselves or others, I would look for help from someone immediately. Don’t wait until it’s too late. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 (TALK)
Kiminy Cricket 