Coping with feelings of helplessness

If we’re being honest, I think most of us would agree we live in an unprecedented age of ease that is met with extremely high levels of dis-ease. We have access to most information at our fingertips, but spend hours scrolling, searching for an elusive something. We don’t worry about being burned as a witch anymore, but we do worry about being ‘cancelled’ and tossed out of our social circles for sharing the ‘wrong’ ideas or living counter to the expected ways.

Shame lives in our hearts when we don’t live up to societal expectations and we fear we cannot escape it and also live authentically. Do we have the lifestyle of the people we see online? Do we have enough kids to be considered valuable to ‘society’? Are we sacrificing enough of ourselves to corporate interests to be worthy? Maybe some of these queries resonate with you.

So how to we combat these feelings while being honest about the barriers to wellness that are present around us?

Focus on what you can control.

It may be small at first, just one day of walking in nature instead of being on screens.

One choice to make something yourself vs buying it.

5 minutes of meditating with the goal of seeing yourself as the whole, worthy and lovable person that you are and that the problems with society have nothing to do with your value.

One day off social media!

Acknowledging the things we can’t change on our own, allowing those feelings to be real and painful but directed appropriately can make a huge difference. Are you ‘failing’ or are there more influences at play? That feeling alone can be terrifying as we acknowledge the outside, the past, the world we live in. While also hoping for better, more just future. When you feel strong enough in this circle widen it. Be part of the change. But for now, just start small and be gentle with yourself.