How to Keep Your Sanity in a World of Chaos

Keeping your sanity in a World of chaos isn't an easy thing to accomplish, but I don't need to tell you that, you're living it. Most of us either work outside of or inside the home, and many of us do both. If that's not enough on your plate...let's add making time for an actual relationship, family, family obligations, your kids sports, your kids schooling, Church (if that's your belief), meals...everybody has to eat, social media (God forbid you didn't stay up to date with what Cindy made for dinner yesterday), oh yeah...and sleep! Let's go even further and add the constant in your face fear tactics the media creates. Heck, here in the USA, we are a society that's one Presidential tweet away from a nervous breakdown!

In 2016, The United States alone spent somewhere between $300 - $500 (depending on the source you use) BILLION dollars in the pharmaceutical industry. One in six American's are prescribed psychiatric medication. Almost twice as many women than men are regularly prescribed mental medication. The most prescribed being anti-depressants, followed closely by anti-anxiety, which is closely followed by strong sleeping medication. Unfortunately, when you look at crime rates and the extreme number of suicides, you can come to the conclusion that medication is absolutely not the answer. Of course there are people that physically need the medication but the majority of mental prescription drug users would benefit much greater if they were taught how to effectively communicate, how to cognitively work out life's issues as they occur, how to work through the plethora of emotions that humans feel, and forced to take accountability for their results. Big pharma and all the hands in their pocket definitely don't want this to happen though. It's not an industry built on fixing people, it's an industry that profits from the numbness created by these pills. When you remove one's ability to cope in a healthy way, you create another addict...a steady customer. What a vicious cycle we've allowed.

Each one of us has experienced the feeling of being overwhelmed, sadness, without purpose, heartache, and all the other crappy feelings but we've also experienced the feeling of success, happiness, kindness, generosity, love...The most important thing to understand about feelings is that they are temporary and controlled by you. When you give up control, that's when problems fester and begin to consume you. The key to keeping sane in a world of chaos is to stay in control of the only thing you can control...YOU! Easier said than done? Let me give you a few suggestions that you can immediately implement that'll keep your seat as the Captain of your sanity.

How to Keep Your Sanity in a World of Chaos

Prioritize - This doesn't need to be a drawn out process nor does it need to be an overthinking action. This process takes a bit of effort and absolute consistency. I'm certain you can handle this. Every week, before Sunday's end, create a priority list for the week ahead. I'm a fan of writing lists in pencil because life happens and sometimes you have to improvise as things pop up. You'll have professional and personal priorities written on this list, intermingled. Keep the list to fewer than twenty priorities and make sure you list them in their order of importance to you. That's the master list for the week ahead. Each morning, before you begin your day, check the master list and write down on a different piece of paper your three - five top priorities for the day that haven't been accomplished yet. As you accomplish each priority, mark it off the list. This easy action will keep you focused and sane as you accomplish the things that truly matter to you.

Get away from your devices - We weren't meant to spend this obscene amount of time on electronics. The lighting from these devices is enough to drive people to the loony farm. Social media has actually created an anti-social society. Take a look around you, how many people have their heads down buried in their device? Put the f@cking devices down and give your body a break. People are literally addicted to social media...like physical withdrawals addicted! People feel validated by the amount of likes, comments, and shares they receive. (By the way...if you enjoy this article and find it useful, please like, comment, share) ;) Of course our society is filled with depressed people...they've concentrated on building up their profile page instead of building their self-confidence. They don't work on creating strong friendships, they work on adding numbers to the amount of "Friends" they have following them. I've made some incredible friends through social media, but they're in addition to the friends I meet with and have actual conversations with. Being engrossed day in and day out on social media will absolutely draw you into the chaos and check your sanity in at the door! As a society, we spend so much time online that the POTUS tweets knowing it will gain more attention than any other media source, and that's considered acceptable. Social media will suck you in and before you know it, the day is gone and you're scratching your head wondering how you're going to tackle any of your priorities. That's when people like to say, "Well, there are just not enough hours in the day." Yes there are, you just wasted them reading about the girl you hadn't spoken with since high school, Tammy's loser ex-husband and the three hundred comments from angry man hatters, or getting involved in which celebrity is getting divorced now. Nothing but time drainers! In order for you to get away from your devices, you have to make the choice to set it down and walk away from it. I suggest creating in your calendar a set appointment for social media time, work related or not, you must stick to the time slots you've allotted for. Figure out how many hours you typically spend during one day on all your social media sites and begin to remove those hours each day until you are down to the point where you being on your device isn't taking away or keeping you from accomplishing anything important. Considering most of the things people post on these sites is complete and utter bullshit...releasing yourself from all the chaos will absolutely clear your mind and keep you on the sane track instead of buying a first class seat on the crazy train. If you are a parent, it is not actually child abuse to control the amount of time your child is on a device. Step in and make sure that they are confident and resilient in real life...not just excellent at Candy Crush haha. Get their heads up and engage them in conversation. They'll thank you later in life when they are strong and secure surrounded by socially inadequate people.

Carefully choose who you hold discussions with - Your opinion does not need to be known by everybody to make it a valid opinion...AND...you aren't obligated to listen to other's opinions. One of the most effective ways to maintain inner peace and sanity is to pick and choose with whom you discuss certain subjects. When my clients speak to me about an argument they've had with the same person they've been arguing with for years, I tell them to go outside and find a nice long sharp stick and jab it in their own eye. When I ask if they did it, they say with a laugh, "No, of course not. That would hurt." I say, "From experience, you knew the stick would hurt if you poked it into your eyeball, right?" It's always quiet for a moment because they're unsure where I'm going with this. Then comes, "Ugh, yeah." I ask, "After all these years and arguments, you really didn't know that your conversation with said person would end up in an argument?" Ah ha! You don't have to stop speaking with that person, just be very selective on what you speak about. Ever listen to a conversation between two closed minded people? Talk about insanity! It's not your job to convince everybody that your opinion is the right one or that theirs is wrong. Why bring this type of nonsense into your life? There are plenty of other things that create chaos, you don't need to add more. Politics and religion are two subjects to avoid discussing, unless you fully know that person is willing to listen to your opinion and vice versa. Certainly, if you have a way to make positive change in our world, by all means, make waves, create chaos, argue until your jaw can no longer move...but if it's simply to get your opinion heard, don't waste an ounce of your sanity and happiness on it.

Get lost in nature - Surely, I'm talking about mentally lost in nature, not physically. Yeah, sometimes you have to force yourself to get off the couch and go for a walk, but it's like sex, seems like a lot of work, but at the end, you're happy you did it. Go for a swim, a hike, a bike ride...anything where you are in the open air allowing your mind to focus on nature's noises and beauty. Don't know if you golf or not, doesn't matter, but when I finish a round of golf, my mind is clear and free the same way it would be if I did yoga. The focus, the greenery, the smell, the competition...it's like meditation for me. Find which activity does that for you and make it a point to get out and actually do it. Spending time in the outdoors brings you back to basics and grounds your mind.

Become comfortable saying NO - It's absolutely natural to have the desire to please others, but not at the cost of your sanity. More than likely, you've got plenty on your plate already, taking on other people's honey do list would probably overflow your plate. I'm not talking about helping the needy or anybody in an emergency situation, I'm referring to the friends or family member(s) that ask you to interrupt your day so they don't have to adjust their own. If saying no means the friendship ends or the family member washes their hands of you...well, that's a great way to get rid of some dead weight. When your answer is no, it requires no explanation, you don't need to justify yourself to anybody. Again, help when you can if you desire to, but don't feel like it's your obligation to pick up your neighbors little Timmy from baseball practice because Mary, his mother, is so tired from her busy day and Bob, Timmy's dad is staying late at the office to finish up what he didn't get done during the day because he was too worried about missing an update on Facebook! No is a complete sentence. No is one of the most liberating words you can implement into your everyday speech. It is more important for you to be considerate of your time, your well-being, your sanity than it is for you to be everybody's "Go to."

If you implement all or any of those five suggestions, you will notice a big difference in your life. Everybody at one time or another feels like they're on the brink of insanity, it's moving past that feeling with positive solutions that will bring you back into a sane mind. There's all sorts of crazy that surrounds us which makes it crucial to remind yourself often that the only thing you can actually control is your own thought, words, and actions. You are worthy of living the life you desire, you just have to make the choice.

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed and found this blog helpful, please share, comment, like. Now get out and be the amazing person you were born to be!

The Author: I am a life and business strategist that helps individuals and businesses achieve the personal and professional results they desire. Contact me for more information.

Debbie Dickerson

Life and Business Strategist

[email protected]