SCARED S*#!less
What To Do If You're Afraid
I felt sad recently for a mom who described the terror she felt when she got home from work and discovered her daughter wasn’t home from school. After searching for her, she called the police and then the school -- only to find out the girl was late because the bus driver forgot to drop her off. Mom was relieved, but irate.
It seems we live in a culture of fear today because of the media, instant alerts and our lack of trust in governmental agencies keeping us in a state of constant panic. It’s become slightly fashionable to be fearful, but according to Time Magazine the truth is we live in the safest time in history. FBI statistics show a huge decline in violent & property crimes since 1993. Steven Pinker, an evolutionary psychologist, reports in the newsletter “How Stuff Works” that violence has sharply declined in the world as a whole since the birth of mankind. And although there are still wars going on, this is the most peaceful time in history. Hard to believe, I know.
I think maybe that’s why my students and I got such a chuckle out of this meme on FB recently. Some of us grew up drinking out of hoses, playing in the streets, and driving around town without seatbelts.
As one former student joked, “I remember being the student you sent outside to look for the tornado. “
Another suggested, “If we were hit by any flying debris from the tornado, we’d just rub some dirt in it.”
Others remembered their elementary teachers sending them out on the school roof to retrieve kickballs. I laughed hysterically when a former student described this experience:
“Marseilles Bulldog Alumnus here…I was let out the 1st grade window, cleared all the kickballs off the roof, shimmied up the downspout to the 3rd floor and cleaned those all off too. Then I shimmied back down for recovery to find the door was accidently locked…let’s drop the 6- year-old out the 3rd floor window so I could shimmy down the spout and unlock the door for the rest of the class. Good times!”
I cringe thinking about some of the things I let my high school students do for demonstration speeches in the past. I imagine showing how to make a bottle rocket, skin a raccoon, pierce ears, or clean a gun wouldn’t be acceptable in today’s world.
What can we do if we find ourselves constantly afraid? The Mental Health Foundation has a wonderful article on how to manage fear and anxiety. You can read it here. Personally, I don’t watch the news or weather forecasts a lot anymore. And a good laugh each day seems to help.
A gentleman my age reminded me of the “Duck and Cover” method we had to rely on in the olden days when doing Russian nuclear attack drills. Like him, I don’t think hiding under our desks would have offered much protection; but somehow we’re still here.
It’ll Be OK.
PEACE
“You have never experienced true fear until a poster falls off the wall in the middle of the night.” ~Cool Funny Quotes.com
COMMENT: WHAT DO YOU DO TO CALM YOUR FEARS?
Great laughs! It’s exhausting I think because we are “ hard wired” into our phones, constant checking in on social media, having to discern if what we are seeing and hearing is a “ bot”, a deep fake, a scam or just information ! It’s the downside of today’s internet connections.
But reviewing the more innocent of times can refocus and it calms me.
I still watch “ the news” but thinking that will stop soon. I want to decide for myself what information to use and how I process it! Trying for Good Vibes Only! ❤️
This is excellent! We are fed reasons to be fearful on all the media sites now. I grew up with no seatbelts or bike helmets, riding in the back of pickup trucks and my mom having no idea where I was at times. And I've made it this far! Great story, Jan.