An article on individual responses to times of crisis, and a free personal assessment
Wanderer above a Sea of Fog - Caspar David Friedrich (1818) In the Public Domain
“Find a way to transform your anxiety into action” - Aanchal Dhar
FEAR ACCOMPANIES CRISIS, THREAT AND UNCERTAINTY
There is a way forward during this pandemic.
We can make headway by overcoming ego, being
honest and gentle with self at the same time as making tough, disciplined
choices.
Part of this means being brave and determined.
Another part is the overcoming of fear.
Another part is the philosophy of seeing each other
through, rather than seeing through each other.
And still another part is letting go and letting
come what is new and uplifting.
When faced with crisis and threat to humanity (such as the coronavirus) most of us are initially reduced to a state of fear (a common denominator) that serves to melt away individual differences.
Fear of loss, real or expected or imagined – whether of health, money, control, a loved one – is real suffering. These fears may be magnified by unhelpful media (social and other), by too many tiring Zoom conferences, by too many emotionally-draining uncertainties and unknowns, by our own untamed minds.
At this particular time in our lives we are all challenged more than ever perhaps, to rise above our fears, to gather ourselves, and move towards a higher purpose. This requires that tell ourselves different stories, and use the power of an intent that is consciously followed through.
The Friedrich painting that introduces this article captures this point of being faced with obstacles, challenges and stormy weather on the road ahead to a destination that is less than crystal clear – and the loneliness and inner work that we need to do to muster the will, energy and actions needed to go on the required journey.
A journey where we curb our rush to DO (strategies, agendas, processes, technology) and add a meaningful dose of BEING – for ourselves and our people (who enable all the doing-tasks anyway).
A journey where we curb our rush to DO (strategies, agendas, processes, technology) and add a meaningful dose of BEING – for ourselves and our people (who enable all the doing-tasks anyway).
A journey where disruptions and detours keep on happening. Where one
change challenge follows another.
Life is “… a lot
like walking into the ocean, and a big wave comes and knocks you over. And you
find yourself lying on the bottom with sand in your nose and in your mouth. And
you are lying there, and you have a choice. You can either lie there, or you
can stand up and start to keep walking out to sea”.
“So the waves keep coming … and you keep cultivating your courage
and bravery and sense of humour to relate to this situation of the waves, and
you keep getting up and going forward”. (Chödrön, P. 2016)
And we are faced with the challenge and opportunity to build our
personal resilience and make the needed transitions following a change event.
(Williams, G. 2017)
(Of course if we are in business we need to be agile, to jump-start a fast feedback loop mode of operating in an ever-changing business world, and so on …. But people must continue to be our top priority throughout the sort of crisis that we are experiencing).
And (because every person is unique) people in different situations, with different personalities, temperaments, resources and needs, do respond in different ways. A one-solution-for-all simply won’t work here.
THERE IS A PATH WE CAN FOLLOW
A path from being a victim in a psychic prison, to learning to accept, cope and move forward, to reach a situation of positive growth that can lead to beyond self-actualization (serving of others) is available.
Let’s face it, that path has always been there – as life’s very unpredictability and variability nearly always exceeds our ability to cope with and overcome every circumstance.
Dr Sarah Mckay, an Australian neuroscientist, underlines how much we fear the unknown and long for predictability. She offers sage advice in a downloadable PDF on her website:
She believes as we do, that all of us can take charge of our own attitudes and choose steps that will move us along the path that lies ahead.
Gabrielle Treanor has produced a wonderful model. A template that we and those we mentor, coach, counsel and relate to, can use to good effect to take stock and navigate their path forward.
used with permission
We all jump in and out of the different stages all of the time. This is not necessarily a linear model! (Nor is its purpose to place anyone into a ‘box’ that defines them)
We all jump in and out of the different stages all of the time. This is not necessarily a linear model! (Nor is its purpose to place anyone into a ‘box’ that defines them)
THERE ARE THINGS WE CAN DO AND BECOME
As we take little steps to help us spend more time in the acceptance and growth stages
than the struggling to cope stage, we can soothe ourselves by taking heed of Kristin Neff's helpful self-compassion practice:
- Be non-judgmental of yourself, be kind to yourself
- Be aware that everyone is in the same boat/ this is the human condition. Everyone suffers. Nobody survives easily all of the time. You are not alone!
- Simply accept painful thoughts mindfully without over-identifying with them
(See: www.self-compassion.org)
If in the coping/ surviving/ accepting state (and not in the growth state of the Treanor model), then you may work at ‘playing positive mind-tapes’ to yourself (personal pep-talking), reaching out to a trusted friend or support group that provides psychological safety but not criticism.
Use self-discipline and live deliberately in the present moment. Constantly remind yourself of what you can’t control (which includes the unknown and the unpredictable) and what you need to let go of; and also of what you can control and do something about proactively.
And if you are in the growth/ flourish state, have a growth and learning mind-set, be grateful for that and reinforce it at every opportunity. A truism is that when feeling down you make a point of lifting someone else up you help yourself. The same applies when you are financially challenged – invest a little money, time and emotion in someone else. Whatever is threatening to pull you down, find a way to help someone else. To give. A prosocial, other-oriented mind-set is a surer way to happiness, a surer way of empowering yourself than chasing after hedonistic pleasure, possessions, position and power.
None of this comes easy to most of us. The road ahead will continue to be full of ups and downs, and the following may provide some perspective that we can learn from as we travel:
TO
REPEAT, “YOU ARE NOT ALONE!”
“A mental illness
crisis is looming as millions of people worldwide are surrounded by death and
disease and forced into isolation, poverty and anxiety by the pandemic of
COVID-19, United Nations health experts said on Thursday”. (Kelland, K. 2020)
Nearly 50% of employees
in the USA are experiencing burnout, according to a survey by Imperative.com. Other
symptoms being experienced by many are loneliness and depression. Clearly work performance
suffers and the spiral continues.
There is no reason to
believe that this figure will be any lower in other countries. In South Africa
– where we find not only one of the worst-performing economies, but also one of
the harshest and longest lock-down regulations in the World, the % may be even
higher.
WE CAN LEARN FROM GREAT PEOPLE WHO HAVE LEARNED FROM THEIR CRISES
Elisabeth KÜbler-Ross did amazing work with the dying, and she developed a model that serves also to describe the typical stages of dealing with loss. Not necessarily linear, after at first being stunned – basically immobilised, we tend to go through denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance - before moving back into the flow of life and being ready to grow as a result of our experience.
Patangali alerts us to the power of having a clear, higher purpose for living in a meaningful way.
“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be”. (Patangali. 2006)
(It is valuable tapping into motivational fingerprinting – a methodology we use to assist people to discover their basic motivational thrust or area of unique giftedness, that when activated puts them into their ‘flow zone’. They then know clearly the nature of the situations or events that trigger their motivational thrust, the subject matter that most attracts them, their preferred relating role in a team or group, and mastering their special gifts or abilities). (Miller, AQ and Mattson, R. 1977)
Kazimierz Dąbrowski, a Polish psychiatrist and psychologist, developed the Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD), and described the psychological factors that he believed to be related to positive growth outcomes after a crises or trauma, in those individuals who experience the trauma intensely, sensitively, and with full alertness. His work was a forerunner of the concept of post-traumatic growth.
Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy is primarily an existential motivating force - our search for personal meaning. Hope in the future provides stability in the present.
Beyond (and a part of self-actualisation) may come an enlivening, inspiring realisation. A simple yet profound realisation. As happened to him in his concentration camp ‘lock-down’ situation,
“A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set to song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth – that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which ‘man’ can aspire”. (Frankl, V.E. 1984) And our focus abruptly shifts away from self, and towards others.
So putting this all together: the depth of our initial response, our capacity to move forward, and our individual rates of growth (and magnitude of growth) all differ, as do the degree of actualisation or transformation that we may ultimately reach:
And we are fragile beings, full of foibles, faults, fallacies, frailties and fears. And full of potential.
“We live in a world of fragile things: fragile selves, fragile psyches, fragile loves. One of the most distinctive features of human existence - what makes it recognizable as human and what gives it its characteristically bittersweet quality - is that we tend to be acutely aware of its precariousness even when we are more or less courageously focused on taking advantage of the various opportunities that it affords”. (Ruti, M. 2009)
A RESOURCE/ ASSESSMENT
This article is background to and post-reading for a comprehensive self-assessment that will direct your understanding and choices you make in determining what you would like your own journey to be, and to not sinking, but swimming (at least some of the time!) in the waves of change and uncertainty that wash over us.
To register for and take the free,
confidential assessment go to: https://culturescan.biz/work-from-home
Bibliography and References
To assist people during this time of upheaval, change and adversity, to help facilitate the development of appropriate mind-sets and resilience, we have recently posted articles that cover aspects of coping during the Covid-19 pandemic. Certain of the questions included in the work-from-home assessment were triggered by these articles:
PERSONAL VALUES AND PRACTICES
RUMOUR-MONGERING
MINDFUL STRESS MANAGEMENT
BE STILL
SNAP OUT OF IT!
CONTEMPLATING DEATH
THE PRACTICE OF READING FICTION FOR KNOWLEDGE
A MORAL RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS
SUFFERING
BUILDING YOUR BOUNCE-BACK-ABILITY
BUILDING YOUR BOUNCE-BACK-ABILITY
Should you wish to discover your hardiness profile
and measures that you can learn and adopt to improve your resilience to change
and adversity (including a copy of Building Your Bounce-Back-Ability) please
contact centserv@iafrica.com
(We use the Personal Hardiness Assessment
developed by Drs Allen Zimbler and
Caryn Solomon, who drew on early work by Dr Suzanne Kobasa. This assessment determines
how you navigate personal transitions with respect to your:
- Comfort level during the process - adaptability, empathy, expression of feelings
- Self-control - inner locus of control, proactivity, self-esteem (and confidence), sharpen the axe
- Meeting the Challenge - personal purpose/ vision, positive mind-set)
We have also contributed a chapter to the Knowledge Resources publication “Managing During the Covid-19 Vortex”, and contributed to the upcoming "Virtual Storytelling Conference: Storytelling in a World Shaped by Coronavirus-19" that took place in mid-May 2020, from India
All of the above material contains suggestions and tips on how to cope better, in both crisis and ‘normal’ times, and with the challenges of work-from-home that have arisen with the advent of Covid-19. You may wish to explore them after taking the free online work-from-home assessment offered above.
Other advice comes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Rosner, B. 2020. March) and Søren Kierkegaard (Rosner, B. 2020. April). See the links in the references below.
Other references:
Frankl, Viktor (1984) Man’s Search for Meaning Rider, London
Kelland,
Kate (2020)
U.N.
warns of global mental health crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic 14th
May, 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-mentalhealth/un-warns-of-global-mental-health-crisis-due-to-covid-19-pandemic-idUSKBN22Q0AO
Miller, Art and Mattson, Ralph (1977) The Truth About You; you were born for a purpose Fleming H. Revell Company: New Jersey
Rosner, Brian (2020. April) Coping with coronavirus anxiety: Four lessons from Søren Kierkegaard ABC Religion and Ethics 30th April, 2020
Rosner, Brian (2020. March) Coping with coronavirus disappointments: Five lessons from Dietrich Bonhoeffer ABC Religion and Ethics 30th March, 2020
Ruti, Mari (2009) A World of Fragile Things: psychoanalysis and the art of living SUNY SERIES IN PSYCHOANALYSIS AND CULTURE Henry Sussman, editor. State University of New York Press
Rutte, Martin (2006) The Work of Humanity: project heaven on earth citing Patanjali (in Seeking the Sacred: leading a spiritual life in a secular world. (ed. Mary Joseph) ECW Press, Toronto, Canada
Williams, Graham (2017) Building Your Bounce-Back-Ability
http://www.haloandnoose.com
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