I’ve spent the majority of my professional career working with cognitive reframing strategies to reduce stress, depression, and anxiety. Proficiency in the practice of viewing situations for what they are, observing the judgment or assumption about them, and consciously choosing the neutral or fact-based idea reduces extreme moods, feelings, and behaviors.
Anxiety is a state of being that lives in the future, a fear of something terrible happening at some later point in time. For this reason, the practice of redirecting the mind from some scary idea in the future and back into the ever-present moment is key.
The practice is like caring for a wandering baby going near something dangerous. Uhht, uhht, uhht. Over here. Stay here. For me, there aren’t too many things that compare to the joyous feeling of a client employing cognitive reframing strategies, redirecting their thoughts back to the present moment, and experiencing reduced stress, depression, and anxiety.
But what happens when devastation, loss, and the “worst case scenario” is here and now?
Together, we are experiencing some of the worst times in American history. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the death toll rises by the thousands each time we get a peak of local news, and the unemployment rate is at an all-time high and climbing daily. Social isolation places us in a feeling of loneliness so deep we feel suffocated.
In dealing with an unfathomable crisis, many want to know, “How can I cope?”
The answer is the same; find the now. Not now, Right Now.
There is a small space right now, even amid what seems like a total calamity. This differs from the idea surrounding the “light at the end of a tunnel,” which suggests enlightenment, healing, and growth are found only after a challenging experience. While this may ring true in some cases, in the present moment, this insight and opportunity for growth is available to us now during the challenging moments.
Now, we have a chance to observe, listen, and learn. In the present moment, we find meaning and understanding of painful events and circumstances, which lay the foundation for forgiveness, healing, and acceptance. We can make conscious decisions to act effectively on things we can change and yield to what we cannot. We can begin to consider that, possibly, the world is not happening to us but instead for us and because of us.
There is purpose and opportunity for growth in every experience. When working through a difficult time alone or with a therapist, reflect on how you may be expanded from what appears to be a crisis. What patterns of behavior and ideas seem to play out repetitively in your life are highlighted in this experience? How can working through this challenge enhance or improve the essence of who you are? How does this experience support or conflict with your self-identity, ideas about others, and the world?
Finding the present moment in the face of adversity will lead us to understand and make us a witness to the beauty and purpose behind all things.
