"How do you know what to trust?" In nine client sessions today, I heard this question eight times. Some were referring to the economic upheaval. Others were distressed over the current political brouhaha. All you need do is turn on the tube, channel surf until you reach one of the political debates, sit back, fasten your seatbelts, and remember to breathe. Because one thing is for certain. You are about to hear two completely different spins on the same subject. It's not too difficult to imagine a universal rising of blood pressure.
If there is one thing the human psyche cannot stand, it is what we psychologists have dubbed "cognitive dissonance." Freely translated, it means the brain has one heck of a time holding mutually opposing opinions at any one point in time. To do so, especially for any prolonged period leads to overwhelming stress, and its fall-out. Not only do our adrenals get defatted, but, it simply makes it harder for us to function, much less relate to ourselves and one another. When we cannot tell fact from fiction, we are in trouble.
Just take a millisecond to imagine what the past few weeks have done to your own system. If, like most, you have been paying attention to the economy, politics, or the spin that politicians are placing on what is happening at national and global levels, then you have a sense of what I'm describing. Your mind reels. It's simply too much. We are brought smack to the edge of our capacity as human beings to process the disparity in the stories we are hearing.
Now, hang in there with me for a moment. What if you and I could step out of our present situation for a second or two? What if the two of us decided to just call a halt to what's going on out there in Stress City, and return our attention to what we can do to get a bit of relief? Sound interesting?
A Prescriptive Practice
Step 1: One way of getting some relief is to try on the following practice for size, and discover how it works for you over the next 28 days. (Depending on the study, it takes 21-28 days to shift a habit.) (Thankfully, this should get you through the election.) Here's the way this game plan works. It's called "There's nobody else out there," and it goes like this: just pretend that whatever gets your pressure gauge rising reflects a picture back to you that you can use to your own advantage. For instance, let's say that you are upset with what the candidates are saying, and maybe the tone, as well. Identify specifically what is upsetting. Write it down. Maybe you've written that one person is too rigid, and the other, too hard to pin down. Great. There is no right or wrong answer, so don't worry.
Step 2 is to ask yourself, for example, where you would benefit from checking out your own rigidity? Where might this quality be getting you in trouble today? Likewise, where is your own unwillingness to take a stand costing you?
Step 3: Once you have identified your own situation, you are looking at your present growth area. This is very fertile soil to till, if you wish to expand your relationship with your world, and reduce your stress level regardless what the market is doing tomorrow.