Many of us have heard of Confucius, we know that he was a Chinese philosopher who through his years of writing, observation and work in government created a philosophy of personal morality. This isn’t a political piece or a religious piece. As individuals with anxiety we can use wisdom of the past to help us in the present.
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” —Confucius
How many times have we been faced with an issue that looks like a mountain? We get overwhelmed and we fall into the pit of woe that is anxiety and mental health issues. Is one little saying going to help us? Maybe a little, maybe not at all.
When you have Anxiety, Mountains appear often.
That said at the end of the day events happen to us, mountains appear. We have to deal with them. The beauty of this wisdom is it illustrates literally and figuratively how to deal with a problem that becomes a mountain.
You have to start, and you work the problem one small step (stone) at a time. Look we all have obstacles that pop up in our lives and some of them are extreme. You can move that mountain, be calm, and be methodical… Take one step at a time, one stone at a time and in no time the mountain will be moved and you will be right back on your chosen path.
Thank you so much for coming by and supporting my blog! Want to see more posts like this one? Click here.
Money can generate immense amounts of anxiety. We all depend
on money to live. Food, shelter, electricity nothing is free. All of us, by
whatever means generate income. Income is the basis by which you can obtain
items you need to live and the luxuries that improve your quality of life. If
you are like me, you are affected by moderate amounts of anxiety. You are
functioning, likely have a full-time job and thus have to deal with all the
regular poop that comes with life.
If you live in the states or in any other western culture,
there is a large emphasis placed on retirement and saving. Putting your money
in a bank account and collecting interest is no longer enough as bank interest
is extremely low. If you are at a point in your life where you have enough
income to invest, for whatever reason, it can be overwhelming and daunting.
Here are 5 easy tips that will help you.
Have the
money automatically drawn from your pay or your bank account: This
eliminates the stress of you must transfer it yourself. Many employer plans
will do this for you, and in many cases, it will be pre-tax money, lowering
your tax burden.
Determine
what the money is for: Is this for income generation? Is this for
retirement? For a new car? Decide what this money is going to be used for
BEFORE you start investing.
Where to
invest, Large Cap Growth funds: I know your eyes are glazing over… These
types of funds are normally comprised of strong companies that generate revenue
and are considered very well capitalized. Companies like Apple, Boeing,
Microsoft. These companies aren’t going to fold up over night if there are bumps
in the economy.
Time:
Most investment vehicles have a return average over time. You can get this
measure over 5years, 10 years etc. Look at mutual funds that have a 10-20-year
track record. What was their rate of return? A 20-year avg return is a great measure
because it accounts for ups and downs in the market.
Trust
yourself: There is no “trick” to investing. Consistent investment over
years generates good returns. Don’t look for short cuts, you will regret it.
Money can equal stress, but it doesn’t have to. Remember the
story of the tortoise and the hare? Slow and steady wins the race. If you stick
with a long-term consistent plan you will be a successful investor. Once every 3-6
months check your investments make sure they make sense. If you have an
employer with a retirement plan, sit down with HR and ask your questions. This
will help with your anxiety, and that’s their job.
Remember you have anxiety, this won’t be simple, you will worry, you will react, you will make mistakes. However, you can do this, and someday with a lot of persistence and patience you will have accumulated a nice chunk of change!
Thank you for coming by and supporting my blog. Want to see another post like this one? Click here.
Nearly everyone who is reading this has either heard of or has studied Winston Churchill. To say he was (or Is) one of the most famous statesmen of the “World War” period wouldn’t be a stretch. He was in the middle of the most perilous time in modern history. The World Wars were the most devastating events in human history, oh and wedged in between those was this other event called the “great depression”. Needless to say if you lived through that period of world history you are probably wiser than most of us.
Churchill didn’t suffer fools, he did though accept the fact that even people he disagreed with had the right to be disagreeable. He valued free speech and basked in the fight and nuances of debate and semantics. The wisdom?
“Some peoples Idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, it’s an outrage.”
Boy is that true in 2021 isn’t it? Been on twitter lately? LOL. The point here is, most people that are telling you what they think often aren’t interested in hearing what you think if it’s not agreeing with their point of view. We are now to the point of intolerance where people are canceled for having “wrong think” or “wrong speak” and inconveniently we don’t have Trump around anymore to blame for it.
No its now (and always was) emboldened people who believe what they think is right and will go to extremes to make sure there is no dissent. Churchill faced this as well in his time, they were called Nazi’s and they burned books (think they would have liked Dr Zeus?) and committed horrific crimes.
Be wary of people who want to silence others, who deem something distasteful and are willing to remove access without consent. These are very dangerous people, in essence they want to control what you see, what you hear, and what you think. They are everywhere and, as Churchill warns, if you disagree it’s an outrage. Except now, the outrage has blossomed into something far more sinister.
Please remember to like, subscribe and share I appreciate your support! Want to see another post like this one? Click here.
In my ongoing journey through anxiety I have come across
many different things. One of those things are jokes. Now these are meant to be
funny, if you have anxiety, my hope is you see these and smile. If it upsets
you that was not my intent, I think if we can laugh at ourselves a little bit,
things become a touch easier.
Here are 5 jokes/quips I have found in my travels that made
me lol a little bit
I have generalized anxiety disorder, but it sucks because it affects me specifically.
What exactly is a serious mental illness? As opposed to those what? Carefree, happy go lucky ones?
I’m as anxious as a one-eyed cat watching two rat holes.
Claustrophobic people are more productive thinking out of the box.
My girlfriend left me because she couldn’t handle my OCD. I told her to close the door five times on her way out.
I know some of these are really stupid but I still LOL. Maybe this is a sign I’m in a better place with my anxiety. I don’t know, I hope from time to time in your journey with anxiety you can laugh about it. It’s not a joke, but we do what we can to get through the day. Sometimes a stupid joke can carry the day !
Thanks for coming by and supporting my blog I really appreciate it. Want to see another post like this one? Click here.
It’s crucial to recognize that what works for someone else’s anxiety may not work for yours. I have been producing anxiety blog posts here for years now and I can attest to the fact that everyone has unique triggers and a unique situation. The purpose of today’s post is to give some general advice on things you can do right now to help with anxiety. Generally, these should work for everyone.
Keep a journal of your moods so you can recognize patterns. You can also write about your thoughts to figure out what’s really bothering you. I do this, I suffer from invasive thoughts. There are days when I am back in 1987 and reliving horrible things I may have said or done.
Exercise three to five times a week for 30 minutes to help relieve your anxiety. This is just overall good for you, the buildup of positive outcomes from consistent exercise is unbelievable.
Avoid drinking too much caffeine such as soft drinks or coffee, which is known to exacerbate anxiety. I drink coffee everyday so this is hypocritical to a degree. I’ve cut down, and so should you.
Limit alcohol, which can increase anxiety and panic attacks.Booze can really affect you emotionally and chemically. Go ahead and have a cocktail from time to time but getting loaded regularly is a really bad sign.
Count to 10 slowly. Repeat and count to 20 if necessary. Slow controlled breathing can be an instant anxiety reliever, try it.
Honorable mention here is sleep. Your body heals itself when it is at rest and that includes your mental and spiritual self as well. These are basic advices I understand. Sometimes it’s important to get back to basics and refresh on those before we get into the more complex issues of medications, therapy, family.
Even if one of them work for you then it’s a resounding success. One day at a time, you are doing awesome!
Thank you so much for coming by and supporting my blog I really appreciate it. Want to see another post like this one? Click here.
It’s crucial to recognize that what works for someone else’s anxiety may not work for yours. I have been producing anxiety blog posts here for years now and I can attest to the fact that everyone has unique triggers and a unique situation. The purpose of today’s post is to give some general advice on things you can do right now to help with anxiety. Generally, these should work for everyone.
Keep a journal of your moods so you can recognize patterns. You can also write about your thoughts to figure out what’s really bothering you. I do this, I suffer from invasive thoughts. There are days when I am back in 1987 and reliving horrible things I may have said or done.
Exercise three to five times a week for 30 minutes to help relieve your anxiety. This is just overall good for you, the buildup of positive outcomes from consistent exercise is unbelievable.
Avoid drinking too much caffeine such as soft drinks or coffee, which is known to exacerbate anxiety. I drink coffee everyday so this is hypocritical to a degree. I’ve cut down, and so should you.
Limit alcohol, which can increase anxiety and panic attacks.Booze can really affect you emotionally and chemically. Go ahead and have a cocktail from time to time but getting loaded regularly is a really bad sign.
Count to 10 slowly. Repeat and count to 20 if necessary. Slow controlled breathing can be an instant anxiety reliever, try it.
Honorable mention here is sleep. Your body heals itself when it is at rest and that includes your mental and spiritual self as well. These are basic advices I understand. Sometimes it’s important to get back to basics and refresh on those before we get into the more complex issues of medications, therapy, family.
Even if one of them work for you then it’s a resounding success. One day at a time, you are doing awesome!
Thank you so much for coming by and supporting my blog I really appreciate it. Want to see another post like this one? Click here.
“How do you
move on? You move on when your heart finally understands that there is no
turning back.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
I’ve come back to Tolkien again. Yes, I am a fan of
high fantasy, there are so many pearls of wisdom from Tolkien its hard to
accumulate them all succinctly.
The quote is powerful, it is an allowance if you
will. It’s okay to reflect, and its okay to look back but why are you looking
back? Regret? That’s natural. Are you wishing that you could be in that place
in the past? That’s natural. Are you refusing to let go and understand there is
no turning back? That is natural.
When we think about our past, it is in our interest
to consider this proposition: Those who dwell in the past sacrifice the present,
in that moment, which compromises the future. Those who forget and dismiss the
past, are ordained to repeat it again until they allow its wisdom to take hold.
I know, it’s wordy but how do you move on? Are there things in your life and events that you dwell on? I do, and I can’t exercise them from my mind. I am working on it are you? There is no turning back….
Thank you for coming by and supporting my blog. Want to see another post like this one? Click here.
One of the hardest things to do when you are having a panic attack is to regain focus. There is a very simple trick you can do to trick your mind to focus. Focus = the ability to obtain rational thought and in an bout of anxiety rational thought is the path back. Basically, you just observe your surroundings and start describing things—in your head—in increasing detail.
For example:
There’s a chair.
It has four legs.
The legs are wooden.
The cushion is embroidered.
The embroidery is blue and white.
It has white stitching.
This technique requires you to focus which is one of the hardest -tricks- to pull off when you have an anxiety attack. By describing things in increasing detail makes you focus on the item you are describing. For many of us anxiety is accompanied by invasive thoughts that are the real culprit to our emotional response. Its not the fender bender that rattles you, its all the thoughts that come flooding in once it happens. (to use a bad example )
Anxiety puts everything out of place
I haven’t used this trick, but to be honest I have had a good couple of months. Maybe this sounds silly but give it a shot. The next time you are being invaded by anxiety pick something and start describing in increasing detail. Say it out loud, if you need to but the point of this blog is to be a source of information on anxiety and anxiety relief.
Maybe this will be the tool that helps you deal with the next situation. Really isn’t that the whole point? One day at a time, one episode at a time just living with and coping with our anxiety issues. Everyone has a different threshold of course; my anxiety is different then yours. This might not work for you, it might not work for me but its one more thing in our tool box we can try.
Thanks for coming by and supporting my blog I really appreciate it. Want to see another post like this one? Click here.
I am a gamer. As a proud card carrying member of Generation X I can tell you that in 1982 I got an Atari 2600. I actually got a “sears” version, back then Atari sold directly to Sears (who was still a major, if not the biggest retailer in the country) my FAVORITE uncle got it for me, LOL. I’ve been hooked ever since. Back then you had to hook it up to the TV, graphics were horrible by todays standard but god was it fun.
I’ve gone through many iterations of games and generations of gaming consoles in the last 40 years. I’ve been gaming probably longer than many of you have been alive LOL. I’ve recently started playing some of my older games again. This is my hobby of course, I work full time, I have a family I have a normal life. Hobbies allow you to disengage from reality, more over it allows you to escape from things you don’t necessarily enjoy doing.
As an example do you hate your job? Are you having a stressful situation with your family? Hobbies are a refuge, and allow you something you enjoy that’s exclusive to you. Sure you can share your hobby with other people but having something that is YOURS is very important for your mental health. It’s almost like a safe space, it’s a place you go that you exist as you like. At least that’s how it is in video games, and I truly appreciate that aspect of it.
Is it foolish to play video games?
Your hobby can be anything, cars, golf, pets, writing, video games. In the end though it’s a great way to have something that is just for you, that you can be selfish about and not share if you don’t want to. Its indulgent and people in your life may find it threatening to their relationship with you that you have something personal that doesn’t include them. It’s important to make time for everyone in your life and to make sure they don’t feel ignored.
However, it’s just as important to make sure that you make time for your hobbies. This will make you a better overall person and far more relaxed and happy. Remember to not over indulge and to be clear with the people in your life what your hobby is and what you are doing. As an example, I game wed evenings 8-10 and Friday night 9PM – to whenever I go to bed. My wife and kids know I do this, and it doesn’t create an issue for us. I game with my son from time to time actually, LOL.
The point is, find something you like for you. Be selfish, but don’t let it consume you. Anxiety sucks but we can fight back. Creating spaces in your life that give you time to do things that you enjoy is a great way to combat persistent anxiety. Remember this is your little thing, your corner of the world, your personal space. It can be anything you want, it’s a hobby something you are interested in and want to pursue and that gives you a sense of accomplishment and happiness.
Thank you for coming by and supporting my blog I really appreciate it. Want to see another post like this one? Click here.
In this post we are going back to the workplace to give some of our younger reader’s encouragement. The last major work force shift was via globalization. Many of you are too young to remember a time when globalization WASN’T prevalent. When everything wasn’t made in china, as an example. I’m not here to say globalization is good or bad, but it’s an example of how work can change dramatically.
The latest shift was hastened by the pandemic that is the “great resignation” which coincided with a huge increase in people working from home. This shift is evolving but similar to globalization this will have a dramatic impact for the next 20-30 years. Globalization didn’t happen overnight, it took decades and now it is here. The “great resignation” impact is being felt now but it’s really just beginning. This is why the younger you are the brighter your work future looks.
Why? Three major reasons.
Remote work – in 2015 remote work was a novelty now it is main stream. It’s not going away and its upside is hard to quantify but I will try. Less time traveling to work, more opportunity to work at convenient times for you. More options for work. You see Remote work is a game changer in so many ways. Younger workers are going to be able to adapt quickly and in some cases hold more than one job making much more money.
Boomers & Gen Xer’s – We are getting older. Many boomers have already left the work force. I will be gone in 15 years myself. There are more of us working in traditional industries then the younger generations (some Gen Z kids are still in high school). The more of us that leave the more positions that open up. The work isn’t going away, it still needs to be done and companies need someone to do it. This ties in to the point below as well but as Gen Xers age out of jobs you’re going to have more chances at middle and upper management roles, that’s where the real money resides.
Birth rates – People are having less children and they are having them older. This really started with my generation xers. Many of us had our kids in our 30’s and our family size dropped from prior generations. This trend is continuing, along with lower marriage rates as well. The bottom line is there will be less people in the workforce coming in 20-30 years from now. So the 20-40 year olds working now? Things look good for you here, newer, younger cheaper versions might not be so plentiful in say 2050.
Working from home?
I know conceptually some of this might be a stretch but it’s not out of the realm at all. I think most of these suppositions are actually highly probable. It could be that we experience another huge labor force shift on a shorter time span then normal (they usually happen every 35-100 years). Technology is moving quickly so it might be global companies have an even broader pool of candidates should they continue to evolve remote work.
Either way I think it bodes well for younger workers. I think in 2050 the people turning 40 will have very good employment opportunities and income levels should be very robust. This of course doesn’t account for anomalies like pandemics, war, environmental disasters. Let’s not kid ourselves things could go badly, but if things remain the same as they are now I think working in the next 20-30 years will be easier. You will have better options, more availability and a greater pool of employment opportunities.
Thank you for coming by and supporting my blog I really appreciate it. Want to see another post like this one? Click here.
