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However, as I was driving it began to snow and the roads became slick, forcing me to slow down. This really irritated me since being punctual is so important to me (some might even call it obsessive...and they would probably be right). As I slowed my vehicle to a crawl...I began to think about the anxiety I was feeling. So what if I was late??
In the scheme of things, how important was this? Being late for a single appointment was not going to be a black mark on my overall character. As I confronted my affective state (i.e. anxiety) with rational thinking, I began to think about how important it is to embrace chaos at times. Many of us live in such an orderly society that when chaos occurs, it can have an overly negative effect on our lives.
In other parts of the world, people have a different reaction to chaos, it is considered a part of life and they appear to roll with it as best they can...a much more resilient attitude to have, n'est pas? We have such little control over our environment. Marlene Cimons wrote an Op-Ed piece in Yahoo News about the negative effects of climate change on the mental wellness of Americans.
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What struck me as being really interesting was the discussion on how people in developing countries, who have to deal with constant environmental emergencies, develop the capacity to manage these crises without falling apart: they adapted to the chaos. Environmental chaos is probably only going to get worse, no matter where we live.
Therefore, we have a duty to ourselves to increase our resilience capacity in order to embrace the chaos that the universe will throw at us from time to time. We can do this a number of ways, from learning some simple mindfulness-based techniques and practicing them, learning to breath (or move...tai chi anyone??) properly and inoculating ourselves by completing activities that are challenging (such as engaging in a difficult physical activity, like completing a triathlon), this allows us to tap into our self-confidence when faced with chaotic situations.
Also, using positive self-talk (like I discussed at the opening of this entry) can be highly beneficial in resilience capacity building. Whether we like it or not, chaos is out there and will hit us...usually, when least expect it, instead of trying to run from it, let's embrace it.
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