Manage Your Mind Through the Chaos

​|Everywhere we look, the world is a chaotic mess. Nobody knows what the future holds, and everyone is worrying about it. As I write this, my state is in the middle of a stay-at-home order that the governor might not lift for a while. Like everyone else, my world got tipped on its side when the novel coronavirus started spreading across the globe.

Understandably, people are freaking out. Now more than ever, people are starting to realize that we can't control the world—we've only ever been able to control ourselves.

Please note: This article does not contain healthcare or therapeutic advice. If you are concerned about your health or well-being, speak with a health professional or visit your nearest medical facility in an emergency. This is a guest article and may contain affiliate links.

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Manage Your Mental Health Through The Chaos

Prioritize Your Mental Health

I get it. We all have families, responsibilities, jobs, and other obligations to tend to. But when you ignore the most important person in your life, you're selling yourself short.

I'm talking about YOU.

If you don't take care of your mental health, especially when in the midst of a chaotic situation, the person who suffers the most isn't your spouse or your kids. It's you. You'll burn yourself out on stress, worry, and anxiety long before your actions or lack thereof will affect anyone else.

You can take back some measure of stability by learning how to manage your mind and only focusing on the things you actually can control.

Mind Management

The only way we'll make it through this pandemic with our sanity intact is by managing our minds. Now, many people do this subconsciously and have many years of practice. Consciously managing your mind is on another level altogether.

When you find yourself worrying, filled with anxiety, and stressing about the future (or even the present) the first thing to do is take a deep breath. I recommend 4-7-8 breathing for anxiety relief.

When you've gotten your heart rate down, grab several pieces of paper and a pen. Find a quiet place and spend at least 20 minutes writing down all the thoughts you're having. No self-editing, either! Write it down, regardless of how ridiculous or scary it seems. We need to get it out of your brain and onto paper so you can see what's really going on in your head. Keep asking "what else" and "why" if you're stuck.

When you've exhausted yourself of writing down thoughts, get a different colored pen and circle all the things that are factual—that is, you could prove them in a court of law.

Byron Katie says:

"We only do three things in life: we sit, we stand, we lie horizontal. The rest is just a story."

Separate the sitting, standing, and lying horizontal out from the stories your telling, regardless of how true those stories feel inside you.

What's left is all the thoughts you're having about the crisis, or whatever situation is going on for you right now.

Now, it's important to realize that when we feel a feeling, it's in response to a THOUGHT about something, not in response to the circumstance itself. This means that when I feel upset, it's because I'm thinking an upsetting thought about something.

If the circumstance is the pandemic, my thought could be "I don't know when we'll get back to normal" and the feeling that arises is panic.

Most of mind management is understanding that our thoughts create our feelings and that ultimately, what we think, feel, and do defines how we experience the world.
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Every time you find yourself spiraling into a cave of dark emotions, do a thought download. Get it out of your head and onto paper.

Focus on What You Can Control
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You can control YOU. You can't control your spouse, your kids, your parents, your friends, your neighbors, or your coworkers. The brutal truth is that you never could control any of them, you just THOUGHT you could.

Now, what's left?

Quite a lot. When you control YOUR thinking, you change your own world, and by extension that influences the people around you.

When you focus on what you can control, it's a LOT easier to ease the anxiety and worry that come from focusing on the "out-of-control" thoughts.

What are some good things happening in your life right now? Do you have fresh air? A park nearby? Healthy kids/family/friends? Are you working from home? Did you have a good emergency fund built up? What are the positives right now? Maybe it's just that you're alive.

Here's a short list of the things you CAN control right now:

• your thoughts, feelings, actions, and results
• how much TV or news you watch
• how much time you spend on social media
• who you talk to on a daily basis
• what you eat
• what you drink
• your calendar
• how much you exercise
• the self-care you practice

Instead of focusing on the things you CAN'T control (like the pandemic, the weather, literally everything external to YOU), put your attention and energy into the things that matter. Put your energy into making sure that you're in the best mental state you can be.

Recap

1. Take a deep breath.
2. Write down what you're thinking.
3. Separate the facts from the story you're telling.
4. Remember that your thoughts create your feelings.
5. Accept that you can't control anything or anyone other than yourself.
6. Put your energy into the things that truly matter.

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About the Guest Blogger |

Colleen Mitchell is an accountability/mindset coach, writer, and podcast host. She focuses on helping stressed & burned out millennials cut through the mental obstacles of anxiety, self-doubt, and overwhelm so they can construct a well-organized life and become the best versions of themselves.

She’s an advocate for mental health and Type 1 Diabetes education, though not always in that order. She lives near Seattle, Washington, with her husband and cat, even though she’s more of a dog person. Find her at Inspired Forward, on Medium, and on all social platforms as @inspiredforward.

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