There’s a lot going on in the world right now.
I don’t think I even have to list any examples because we all have our own personal fears and doubts that consume us every day.
Life can be chaotic and it doesn’t help that everything that we see on social media and experience within our own social circles perpetuate the “doom and gloom” narrative. It also doesn’t help that everyone has become so hyper-sensitive that we’ve forgotten how to have compassion for one another.
Sometimes, I too, get caught up in the mess, but I have to remind myself that we have the power to find peace in chaos.
Here are a few practical tips to stay hopeful and optimistic during times like these:
Give yourself a mental reset
Sometimes, all you need is a hard reset.
I believe that our interconnected world is a blessing and a curse.
Through the power of the internet, we have the ability to know what’s happening in the world at any given time.
While this ability helps with keeping us connected to family and friends abroad, it can also be overwhelming to know what world event deserves our attention.
We have a limited amount of energy, yet we feel like we need to give all of it to every event that pops up in our feeds.
If you can cut out the noise, put down the phone, and simply focus on what is right in front of you, it will set the foundation to experience true peace.
Break routine to break bad habits
This may sound counterintuitive, but breaking a mundane routine can also help you shake bad habits.
Let’s say the first thing you do when you wake up is check your social feeds to see if anything happened while you were sleeping.
What if you come across something that makes you angry, worried, or sad?
Whether you like it or not, the tone of your day becomes set and everything you do that day will be influenced by what you experienced.
What if, instead of checking your phone as soon as you woke up, you stared at the ceiling and thought about all of the ways you could bless someone else that day and made it a goal that day to do those things.
Our habits can sometimes enslave us without us even knowing.
Sometimes, intentionally breaking routine can also help break habits that keep our minds in constant states of chaos.
Hold your loved ones close
I truly believe that love overcomes all things.
In the same way that focusing on negative things makes us negative people, I believe that focusing on loving people helps us to experience more love in return.
No matter who you are, there are people in our lives that deserve our love.
When we focus only on the chaotic parts of life, we have a tendency to forget that there are other people in our lives that are experiencing the same thing.
You can be the one who decides to love someone and help them focus on the beautiful, peaceful parts of life.
Hold your loved ones close in times of chaos because they, ultimately, will be the ones that will help us through storms.
Live today with the end in mind
Let’s face it. Nothing lasts forever.
Good times. Bad times. The in-between times.
Nothing lasts.
There are seasons in our lives that we only can recognize once we are through them.
Yes, you may be experiencing immense anxiety or pain right now.
But the truth is that these are the times that make all of us stronger if we allow ourselves to go through the season.
If we can live every day knowing that nothing lasts forever, we can find peace finding normalcy in chaos – because the chaos itself is fleeting.
Embrace the chaos because peace is more about our own outlook than our own circumstance.
I understand that everyone goes through their own battles.
But I believe that we can lead much happier, healthier lives if we can take back control of how we view each other and the world.
Yes, the world can be an ugly place, but we are the ones that can shine light on darkness. We are the ones that can find peace in chaos.