It is so amazing to me how frequently overused the word “anxiety” has been since the start of the pandemic. While I absolutely believe that there are many of us that fight through moments and emotions of anxious thoughts and feelings, I also believe that there is an additional agenda being pushed in our current society to breed anxiety because there is a market that is financially sustainable in the area of mental health (or the lack thereof). Without intentionally combatting the slingshots of fear that are consistently hurled our way through daily news, social media, politics, and silent objectives, falling victim to this agenda is unfortunately easy and incredibly common.
As with most parents, both of mine faced various forms of anxiety that manifested differently for each of them. In my youth, I was both consciously and subconsciously a witness to many of the experiences that induced some of those anxieties. Some of them were fear-based; others were ignited by anger or frustration.
I soon found myself simulating their responses to various stressors, and eventually began noticing that my kids were now repeating my patterns (not exactly the generational legacy that I had hoped to pass down to my children). I wrestled with anxiety for decades before the 2020 global pandemic ever hit, and it often robbed me of my peace, my fun, and even my sanity at times. Hence, you can imagine how heightened that battle became when so many unknowns were introduced to our world at the start of the Covid-19 global pandemic.
The obsession of needing to know every piece of possible information, becoming overwhelmed with all of the contradicting solutions, and the pressure of determining the proper, effective ways to protect my loved ones became intense and exhausting. I realized that I needed to implement some serious changes in my daily routine, in order to reverse the damage that was being done to my sanity and peace. The first thing that was eliminated from my day was the consumption of the daily news. It had come to my attention that two major investment firms, BlackRock and Vanguard, actually own 18% of Fox News, 16% of CBS, 13% of Comcast, 12% of Disney, and 12% of News Corp, and coincidentally, both companies
are also two of the top three institutional shareholders of Pfizer, one of the leading Covid-19 vaccine producers that recorded $7.8 billion in U.S. revenue for its Covid vaccine in 2021. This did not sit right with me, as the two investments seemed to be unfairly conflicting. With this information, coupled with the fact that it was a major trigger to my anxiety in the mornings and would often initiate fear, I decided that I didn’t need the news as a part of my every day routine. The next change that I made was limiting my social media intake on a daily basis. I Deleted TikTok, Paused my Facebook account, and began to visit much more positive sites on Instagram in order to train the algorithm to show me more positivity and less anxiety-induced negativity. I also began increasing the amount of time that I spent enhancing my faith, and I intentionally began seeking out prayer groups, bible studies, and spent time around other like-minded, positive people.
All of these things combined, done strategically, intentionally, and with consistency has now resulted in a much more productive lifestyle for me and a more peaceful home for my family. My heart is in a continued state of perpetual peace, my home is a refuge for my family, my husband gets to have a sane and happy wife, and my children are being taught to combat fear with faith and make practical adjustments towards positivity. The realization that changed everything for me was this simple, yet powerful, truth; In order to help my children handle their anxieties, I must first manage my own. I have done, and continue to do, exactly that; the results are inevitably rewarding.