Surviving Election Day Madness

 

Surviving Election Day Madness

I am not giving in to the hyper-alarming nature of the media and fearmongers that will populate all the forms of traditional and digital media and social platforms today. The truth is whatever will happen will happen. As an ardent believer in Jesus, I accept that He alone is in charge of what happens to me, not a political leader. That said, I examined my tendencies to give in to anxiety and nervous fear and have come up with my own escape system for the day.

1.      Prayer—Yes, God and I will be in constant communication today, not just because I need his guidance in all things, but by staying in communication with Him all day, I can tune out the crazy talk going on around me. Also, it never hurts to pray for unity, peace, and kindness because however this plays out, we will all need unity, peace, and compassion.

2.      Music – Here is where I needed to go old-school.  I can’t listen to my favorite Podcast, because it is inundated with political ads. I can’t listen to my faith-based sermons on YouTube, because YouTube only runs one-sided political ads, and it drives me insane. I can’t listen to the radio, because all they want to do is interject with voting, polls, and result hypothesis – so that is a no. I also can’t listen to Amazon Music, Spotify, or anything else that runs ads, because all the ads are disgusting (political ads). So, I recalled that I had music (old MP3s) on my portable drive at my desk. The good thing is there are no ads with this! Yea!  The bad thing is that I have not purchased music in years and what was on there was not what I wanted to listen to. Then I saw a folder called, “Christmas.” Yes, I know it is only November 5^th, but honestly what better genre to swim in today than uplifting positive Christmas carols?

3.      Noise Cancelling Headphones – I don’t care what excuse you have to make, but if you are surrounded by chatty, loud office mates who are doing nothing but discussing the election, find your headphones and drown it out.  Mine are not exactly noise canceling, but turning the volume up a bit fixes the background of negativity.

4.      Spot on the Wall – I know you’ve heard it before, “to focus on a spot on the wall, or something small,” well when my mind starts to focus on the what-ifs and the chaos that is likely to exist after today, I just focus on the picture of me and my mom at my desk. It immediately takes me back to a time when things were more civil and simpler.

5.      Jesus – Yep, I am concluding this list by circling back to God. If we were honest about the complete picture of Jesus, we would see that he was non-political and stood for things that glorified God and aligned with God’s morality and plans. Focusing on Jesus today reminds me that no matter what happens today, no one can take away my faith in Him – NO ONE, because He is in my heart and mind, and as such, He can’t be removed from me. 

      So, if you are like me and you struggle with anxiety over days like today, find ways to soothe your mind and ground your soul!

 

God bless,

 

April

 

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