Confronting Uncertainty
By now, we all have a lot of worries that we didn’t have before. We all know that living through this time is going to be one wild ride. Because of this, It’s important that we take a step back, and find peace within us. Remaining calm while chaos is occurring all around us could be the key to surviving. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that you will make it through the uncertainty.
Step #1: Don’t anesthetize yourself.
That’s a tricky one to understand. Obviously, most people turn to things like work, sex, drugs, exercise, or just about anything else to push away the difficulty. Well, take it from me as a grateful alcoholic and drug addict in recovery: once these things become crutches, they start to expose you to all the things you are looking to avoid. Much of that compulsion stems from an inability to admit your ego can’t control all the outcomes, so you seize upon the one thing that IS under your control and focuses upon it to the exclusion of everything else.
Step #2: Do the best you can and move on.
As my mentor, Michael Hollister always said to me at the end of our monthly meetings, “That’s the best we are going to be able to do today, Brian.” He’d say this to me no matter what the outcome of that day would be, and remind me to trust the journey. His main skillset was in creating a “gestalt” made up of disparate elements, such as OG growers and academics. I think more in terms of embracing chaos and surfing on it just like OG extreme skiers like Glenn Plake and Scott Schmitt did back in the day.
Step #3: Find the purpose and the message.
In life, it helps to take control of one’s narrative, no matter how it may change from day to day. It’s been relatively easy for me, since I work with specific herbs, and my success is derived from how closely I listen to and learn from the plants. But the fact is we ALL have to master our circumstances and our surroundings. Just earlier this year, I wrote a guest blog recommending how companies should tackle 2020, and spoiler alert, no, Medicine Box didn’t see the pandemic in front of us. But we adapted and listened even to this virus that could still sicken and perhaps even kill me or anyone on my team — because we had no choice.
Step #4: Listen to the plants.
We all have to take in information, nutrients, and air to survive. So taking in the right things you’ll need to rest, eat, and live easier matters right now. And you will need to keep it as non-toxic as possible. For those of you tuning in, those are the choices we’ve made for the tinctures in our 1CaB collection. Equanimity and Happy Belly act as natural soothers, acting through both sleep and digestion to create new stores of serotonin which can aid in diminishing stress and anxiety naturally.
Step #5: Know that death and taxes aren’t the only certainties in life.
It’s always good to have a good anchor for your life — something that isn’t going away any time soon, and that exists regardless of society’s stressors. For me, it’s Lake Tahoe and the Sierras I can look upon every day, not to mention the herbs and the plants that keep me together. Knowing that I can provide for my own well-being and share that with others makes all the difference. YOU also possess the strength to do that for others too, in your own way. Let us know if you ever need help finding it.
It’s up to us to learn to cope with the uncertainty that has been surrounding us. Instead of leaning into the chaos, try taking these steps to ensure that you have the strength to carry on. For the full article, click here.