Interrupt Anxiety with Gratitude

Over the past few weeks, the world has experienced a health crisis the size of which we have not seen in over 100 years. The entire world is experiencing shared anxiety. We have realized how vulnerable we are as we are being forced to face our own mortality. Our current situation, as well as our future, are unknown. We are consumed with continual worrisome thoughts: Will my loved ones or I become sick? What if there are not enough hospital beds? When will this end?

There is an ugly side to hardships such as these. Currently, fear has caused some to make selfish choices such as hoarding supplies and food. Politicians are using this as an opportunity to attack “the other side” for political gain. We are seeing racism against the Asian community as the “blame game” has started. Beauty can also come from hardship; however, beauty will only be observed if one chooses to see it. In order to do so, one must have a grateful heart knowing that their current situation is a gift, regardless of the circumstances. It’s choosing to feel gratitude over anxiety.

Gratitude allows you to see the wonderful things right in front of you, even in challenging times. Gratitude is essential at all times, but even more so in times of trouble.

Dan Sullivan, a corporate coach, has developed a theory called “The Gap and the Gain.” He tells us that most of us live in “The Gap.” “The Gap” is our tendency to focus on what is missing in our lives, rather than seeing our blessings. For example, your company decides to give everyone their birthday off. How many people would complain that they would prefer to take a day of their choosing rather than “having” to take their birthday off? Or you buy ice cream at the store and your child complains that it’s not the flavor they like. That’s the gap. We must reframe our current circumstances and focus on the good. Then, we need to take action. It’s not about what we have, but what we do with what we have. That is “The Gain.” In that sense, we should not even focus on our current circumstances but rather our capabilities. Have gratitude for the present and for what you can do. The goal, according to Dan, is to live in the gain. Rather than measuring your current situation with the “perfect” situation, you measure yourself against where you were before. By doing so all you see is progress which encourages us to take action to move forward in a positive way.

We also need to understand that “perfect” circumstances are actually not optimal. We only grow when we are challenged. This is the age-old concept that life truly begins when we move out of our comfort zone.

Here’s an example of how Dan’s concept can work for our current situation and lead to our positive growth. As we feel “cooped up” because we are unable to see friends, have dinners out, go to the movies, etc, what if we were grateful for these feelings? The fact that we are missing these wonderful activities means we are an active part of our community. We have loved ones that we long to see. Some people do not. Our “new normal” is how many live every day. Perhaps, at the end of all of this, we can take our new appreciation for what we have, and turn that into action by reaching out to others-the disenfranchised, the lonely, the sick, because now we truly understand the difficulty of their “normal.”