Riffing On Realness™

Dealing with Existential Dread

Episode Summary

Living through a pandemic, political unrest, social justice unrest, climate change, species extinction, it's no surprise we might be feeling collective stress from time to time. So sit back and grab a cuppa as we explore dealing with existential dread. An uplifting listen which might just open up new insights for you.

Episode Notes

As we ranged around the topic of dealing with existential dread here's what we got curious about:

• is it safe to be real and vulnerable at this time or should we keep our metaphorical masks on?
• it makes sense to go easy on yourself if your certainties seem to be swept away rather than trying to plough on as if it is business is usual... which clearly it isn't
• realising that maybe 20% of your resources might be taken up with dealing with this fast-changing world, means we can adjust our expectations of what looks possible for today
• what does 'doing our best' even mean? (not being perfect)
• productivity as a measure of profit is just one definition, not the ONLY definition.
• noticing how our feeling states fluctuate all the time can be helpful in reminding us how fluid our feelings are. Our minds can change and knowing that can help us not hold on too tightly to any one state
• we've seen when we go after a feeling of dread, analyse it, judge ourselves, go on a witch hunt, resist it like crazy - the feeling intensifies.
• acknowledging strong feelings but then going about your day allows the feelings to go on through.
• our psychological system is designed to come back into equilibrium: if we leave our thinking alone (as best we can) it will do just that.
• what if we get less fixed about what 'getting on with our day' looks like?
• when we open to the gift in every state including grief then we can be more willing to go where our wisdom is nudging us
• there is so much richness that doesn't show up on a balance sheet like being touched by a poem
• we don't have to be so afraid of our experiences if we allow our emotions to come through they can be healing
• anger can give us energy, motivation and be a gateway to transformation
• leaving our thinking alone and letting feelings flow gets easier the more we come into contact with that deeper dimension which is beyond our moods
• recognising we are connected to something bigger than our self-conscious selves makes it easier to not get so fascinated by our ever-changing moods
• life has got us. It's not all up to us.
• life is living us. There are many names for that something bigger than us: lifeforce, God, Mind, True Self, Mystery, Spirit
• looking more in that direction when we get our own realisation and experience of that, it brings us more ease with the ups and downs
• when we live in constant anticipation of the other shoe dropping then we are already living life as if the shoe has in fact dropped and we suffer. Knowing that the other shoe always drops can relieve us of having to live it repeatedly. We get to live once.
• life is up and down, knowing that we can relish the good times and be more graceful through the grief.

See you next time!

Quotes/sources

The Four Agreements  by Don Miguel Ruiz

"If the only thing people learned was not to be afraid of their experience, that alone would change the world." Sydney Banks

'We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem but the truth is things don't really get solved: they come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and they fall apart again." Pema Chodron

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Carla is a mindset & performance coach working with high achieving, high-performance entrepreneurs who are dealing quietly with anxiety.

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Poet & 3 Principles facilitator, Juliet loves exploring and pointing towards freedom of mind for those curious to engage more fully with all aspects of their life. 

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