Seems crazy, doesn’t it?

To think of dancing anything, including the dance of life, while so much around us is being demolished. When many of us can feel only fear. But hear me out, ok?

First, all credit to guru Mike Dooley, whose positive work has been keeping me alive these past few years. The most important thing he’s taught me is to face my fears outright and never stop living. So let’s just put that on the table now.

We have good reason to be fearful.

Everything we know has been disrupted and thrown into chaos. How are we supposed to live in that mayhem?

We can’t afford to NOT live, in my opinion. This is the life we have and we can waste it on fear or we can face our fear and continue live in the midst of it. Dooley says fear and chaos are only temporary, whereas WE are eternal. Well, you may or may not believe that. I do believe it. He also says fear only shows up to present an amazing lesson. I believe that, too.

But all of this begs the question of “how do we cope?”
Or a better question: “how do we live?”

Live as fully as you can, taking practical action steps (and impractical ones, too!) Get together with friends. Look for that new job. Vacation or staycation. Learn to meditate. Go out dancing. Live a full life in every possible way.

And yes, yes, yes, be as POLITICALLY ACTIVE as you can.Participate in phone banks and text banks, call your electeds, write them (I do love the easy app 5Calls for political action), demonstrate if you want. Do what you can to help change things, but don’t stop living. NEVER stop living. Because if you do? I guarantee you’ll regret it one day.

Face your fears head on. Keep a journal and delve deeply into your fears, asking yourself if this fear makes sense, why you feel that way and writing out some ideas for coping. I’ve found keeping a journal of my feelings invaluable, especially when I can look back later and see how my thinking has changed over time.

Visualize your life after this is over, beyond the fear. What will it be like when this situation is finally gone (and one day it will be)? What will you do? Bring up all the colorful details in your mind and do it daily. You’d be surprised at how well it can help manage fear. Visualization is a powerful tool–just ask any professional athlete.

Create affirmations that celebrate your happiness and joy as if they were present right this very minute. Repeat them daily or even more often.I can’t underestimate the power of affirmations in mood management. An example: “I am enjoying a full life feeling peace and joy every single day.”

Dooley introduced me to the concept of “reverse worrying” and I love it! Rather than imagining of how things might go “wrong,” bring up all of the reasons you triumphed over the fear and moved past it.  He suggests we write in the past tense, as if what we feared has come and and then passed by without impact, listing all of the “likely” reasons your fantasies prevailed.

I get it. I get that the world seems like it’s in complete chaos. I, too, have fears about the future.

So let me tell you about the concrete steps I’ve taken to keep living a full life.

• I’ve been meditating. I attended a meditation weekend and have established a daily practice. It does wonders for my mood.
• I’m taking metaphysical courses to reinforce my new age beliefs. I’ve come to see us as truly eternal, to believe that there’s more than just this life on earth, and to understand that we are only here temporarily in body but the core of who we are never dies–it moves on. This is strangely comforting, while in the past, the idea of death produced great anxiety.
• I wrote and proclaim affirmations every day. All written in the present tense, as if all have already come true.
• My journal is filling up.
• I make every attempt to not dwell on the negatives in conversations with friends.
• Before the market became so volatile, I was able to have our financial advisor rebalance our portfolio so that our risk is minimal and I do mean minimal.
• And of course, I am politically active.

I am doing everything I can to continue to live a full life. I am fully engaged in the dance of life.

When will you start?

Thanks, Mike Dooley, for all you do, including many of these great ideas!