How to Reduce Overwhelm through chaos

I know our world is spinning at a pace we can’t keep up with.

Every day we watch the paradigm crumble, frenzy escalates, legitimate fear heightens, and senseless tragedies unfold. It’s nearly impossible to feel “informed” and sane simultaneously.

Everybody seems to have the answer to the mess humanity finds itself in, according to the beliefs that work for them. But my only answer right now is this: In order to truly transcend this madness we have to look within ourselves, evaluate where we’ve contributed to the problem, detach from our instinct to judge through the unbending lens of right and wrong, and surrender to the humility of unknowing.

We really just don’t know a lot of things right now, and that can feel terrifying.

Priorities are shifting. Truths are being revealed. Ancient rifts are reorganizing. And we’re going to have to be okay with chaos for some time longer.

I have faith in a Higher Intelligence, and I know it’s rarely found in ego. In fact, our Highest Consciousness spends a lot of time listening, observing, and much less time puffed up about what it knows. I believe in the capacity of our hearts and spirits– as feeling, caring, people– to shine the light needed to disempower cruelty and fear. I believe that same light feeds collective wisdom.

But we can’t do that, we can’t shine our light, if we’re jumbled knots of anxiety and overwhelm.

And we can’t do that if we become the very thing we’re fighting against.

The biggest challenges for us as Highly Sensitive People are:

1. Sensitive people are more easily dragged down the rabbit hole of strong, even crippling, emotion.
2. Sensitive people are more susceptible to anxiety, hopelessness, and overwhelm.
3. Sensitive people are more prone to escapism, distraction techniques, and numbing devices.

If you feel yourself going numb, feeling paralyzed, or wanting to curl up into a little ball and ride out the rest of your life in the fetal position, then you’ve officially moved into empathy overwhelm. It happens to all of us, especially if we forget to create intention around caring for ourselves.

5 ways to Pivot and Refocus.

Maybe you feel you’ve been frozen long enough. Maybe you’re ready to move forward. If so, according to resiliency research, there is a known path to changing your perspective. This eagle-eyed, wider lensed view will give you much-needed strength, and will give you the fuel to create ripples of positive change out into the world.

1.) Focus on what you have, not on what you have lost, or never had.

There’s always hope. There’s always a step forward, a way through. Open to the possibility of a solution that you simply haven’t discovered yet. People rebuild their lives from the ground up every single day. (I once did it myself.) Tell yourself that no matter what it is, you can handle it. Ask yourself, “What is right in my world?” Specifically look for it. Find it. Redirect your mindset over and over until this becomes your default. Focus on the invisible gifts you too often overlook–your functional senses, or the oxygen in the air. This breaks a cycle your brain may be stuck within, which is the habit of unrelentingly searching for problems (the heart of anxiety).

2.) Invest in people, not things.

Take a class. Support an artist’s work. Donate to, or volunteer with, the organizations you feel most passionate about. Buy a membership to your local nature center. Fill the void with strong, positive, generous action, instead of filling your social media feed with the propagation of panic and dread. Boots-on-the-ground action is how we talk back to the feelings of helplessness, and it’s how we actually drive change in this world.

3.) Sometimes, just sometimes, say Yes, even when you want to say No.

As a super introverted Highly Sensitive Person, believe me, this one is personal. For me it is way too easy to melt into bed at 8:00 pm with my nose in a book. We still haven’t fully broken our habits from the pandemic. Our year(s) of isolation created a new normal for us. It propelled many of us into nearly unreachable degrees of introversion. At first, it felt kind of nice, didn’t it? I know it did to me. Suddenly the world slowed down to my pace, and it felt a little less hustle culture. But there is such a thing as diving too deep. Gently pushing yourself to join a monthly group webinar, or taking a walk with a friend, or even just doing some work at a coffee shop, sharing space with strangers, can powerfully boost your energy levels. (Remember this article on how to build a life the brain considers meaningful?)

4.) Limit your media consumption.

Go ahead and snack on unbiased news, but don’t gorge on it. And if you find yourself being pulled into online battles, use every ounce of your will to disengage. I can promise you that nobody ever changed their morality or mind due to a Facebook thread, no matter how pithy your sarcastic response skills are (I’m definitely talking to my own past self right now). Use healthy discernment at all times. Where are you spending energy? Is that energy expenditure shining a light on your life, or pushing you deeper into your own shadow? Is it moving the dial forward in any way? Save your energy resources (which are finite) for enriching your life. Guard your strength for those who may really need your help right now.

5.) Do not ruminate on toxic thoughts.

Focusing on the insanity only makes you feel insane. When you find yourself recycling an internal thought commentary of hopelessness, anxiety, catastrophizing, or confusion…know that the fear has you exactly where it wants you. I can promise you that for every terrible thing you’re focusing on, there’s something equally heroic happening right alongside it. Collective challenges bring increased awareness, community resolve, empathy and outpourings of generosity. Look for the Light. The universe is reorganizing into the Age of Aquarius. Shifts of this magnitude are terribly messy. They’re ugly, scary, and painful. Ask your spirit to step in and lead your life. Making yourself (or somebody else) sick with your own thoughts is not useful to you, or to the world.

Know this: You are not alone. There are infinite numbers of good, brilliant, helpful souls in this world making revolutionary, beautiful, courageous strides to pull our planet into a harmony that has never before existed. If you’re focusing only on those who seek to destroy, then you’ve temporarily extinguished your own light.

Redirect, refocus, pivot. Stay illuminated. That is where you will be of service. That is where you will find yourself capable of lighting the path for others.

Much Love,

Kristy

P.S. — Please be sure to share with me, in the comments, which steps you’re working on, and/or where you’ve been excelling. As always, your thoughts are important to me, and your expression helps others express themselves too. Remember, this is a community of big-hearted introverts, so speaking up can be a generous contribution to all.