Sarb Johal - Finding Calm: Managing Fear and Anxiety in an Uncertain World

We currently live in a world that seems optimised to deliver anxiety: difficult relationships, divorce, unemployment, poverty, racism and discrimination, mob violence and conflict, loneliness, work stress and long working hours, domestic violence and child abuse, a global pandemic, and a general sense of lack of control over our own futures.

More than this, it seems designed to provoke a collective anxiety that we all experience simultaneously. There are huge events going on around the planet right now that will shape how we live and interact with each other for decades to come, including climate disruption, population growth, artificial intelligence, and increased regional conflict and global instability.

How all this will interact and play out is complex, but there is no doubt that its increasing our sense of uncertainty and diminishing our ability to predict what life will look like in the future with big implications for where and how we live, along with all other aspects of the world economy.

Our personal day-to-day lives are full of potential uncertainty, stoking our anxieties too. Not only do we seem driven by fear of what will happen if we dont deliver what we need to do in time, but we are also fearful about whether we are doing it well enough, or even if we are doing the right thing at all. There are so many ways in which this shows up in our lives. Small things that seem to have large impacts on us include:

The computer that sits quietly in your room with the potential to increase your learning and entertainment options beyond your imagination, but that also plagues you with the daily hassles of forgotten passwords and crashing hard drives

The expectation that you will be available online 24/7

Calendars so busy we cant make room to see our friends

Multi-tasking, all the time, in so many different ways

Batteries running out on our phones and devices

No internet connection

Waiting for someone to message you back, especially when you know theyve seen your message

Managing multiple devices, putting you and your loved ones at risk of identity theft, phishing, trolling and grooming

Trying to figure out how to deal with multiple subscriptions to the many services you seem to need to manage your TV, power, and even follow whats happening with your child at school or the social media channels your friends hang out in.

And dont forget our reactions and the knots we tie ourselves up in, leading us to feel overwhelmed, paralysed or to take action that gets us into trouble, driven by fear, anger or righteous indignation.

My job is slowly draining my will to live. But what choice do I have? What if Im trapped here forever?

All that is happening in the world isnt my fault. I am so angry that I want someone to pay for making my life miserable. Actually, you know what, the hell with them, Im just going to do what I want to do and f*** the consequences.

I didnt get enough likes on the social media post I just put up. Should I delete it for fear of showing that Im not popular, or will that just show Im insecure? I cant handle all these feelings all at the same time. I feel so overwhelmed, what should I do?

I cant forgive myself for what I have done. I cant ever speak to my friend again because I cant bear the shame and guilt.

To top it off, we have a generation being raised in a cauldron of increased scrutiny of public failure, earlier exposure to sexualisation, and a sense that their economic future and well-being may not be as good as for the generation that came before them through income inequality, rising levels of debt, poor access to long-term liveable housing, and precarious employment opportunities. Is it any wonder we feel constantly on edge with all this current-day and future uncertainty?

So, how is your sense of where the world is heading? For many of us, we hear the message that we just need to battle through to be successful in modern life. This is how it is. The demands of modern life and the cult of busyness mean that you earn and wear your high stress levels as a badge of honour. We are all in the same boat we just need to keep ploughing on and consider ourselves lucky that we have the opportunity to be so busy.