Musings | Disequilibrium
“Gosh, the way I understood the world isn’t quite lining up anymore”
The last few months have perhaps been the most uncertain of the past two years, and that is saying a lot. If we were on a roller coaster before, it was like we upgraded to the twistiest and fastest ride with monster drops. First, we were confronted with a new variant, then dealt with our second (mostly) locked down holiday season, and now - just like that - it looks like life as we once knew it is (i.e., life without public health mandates) is suddenly upon us again. All of this may be leaving you feeling a bit unbalanced and unsure about what comes next. In some ways, this couldn’t come soon enough; in other ways, it may feel like the changes are too fast.
This feeling of disequilibrium - of things not making sense or feeling out of whack - is understandable. Sandy Speicher, CEO of the world-renowned design consultancy IDEO, explains, “A lot of the things that we understood to be true are evolving. And now, this period of disequilibrium can feel really stressful because the mental models you operate on aren’t really working anymore. But this is where, if we take that discomfort and we stand in it, and we get curious about it, and we recognize that that discomfort is actually the thing that’s going to help us get to a new level of understanding, well, we can make really great things happen in that process.
The sudden changes we are experiencing may lead to worrisome thoughts or feeling overwhelmed. We have looked back into the Musings archives to provide some tools to help you navigate these odd and uncertain circumstances. Check out the quick activities below to aid you in harnessing worries and grounding yourself in moments when you feel overwhelmed.
ACT ON OR ACCEPT YOUR WORRIES
Jen Schumacher is the Director of Performance Psychology at the Centre for Enhanced Performance at the United States Military Academy. She is also a marathon swimmer, who sharks occasionally confront as she completes her long open water swims. She is afraid of sharks, so when she worries about what will happen if she encounters one, she uses the following activity to help diminish her worries. It is called Act or Accept.
Make a list of all the things going on in your life.
Cross out everything you have control over.
For the remaining elements, identify if there are ACTIONS you can take to manage them or if you need to work on ACCEPTING that you cannot control them and therefore need to work on letting them go.
In Jen’s case, when it came to her fear of sharks, she took action to learn as much as she could about shark behaviour and then created if/then statements she could tell herself to prepare for when she saw a shark. She learned that if sharks attack, they do so from behind and at an approaching speed of about 40 miles an hour. When she did see a shark near her, it was swimming very slowly, and she could see it. Her research and preparation helped her realize that the shark was not going to attack her, and she was able to enjoy the moment of having the shark near her while she swam.
*cough* The moral of the story is not encouraging you to swim with sharks! This example illustrates that understanding what we can and can’t control can significantly impact how we perceive our reality, even in the most extreme of situations.
FEELING OVERWHELMED? 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 FOR RELIEF
For quicker relief from feelings that may seem overwhelming, you can take a few moments to ground yourself and create a sense of calm by taking a deep breath, exhaling slowly, and counting backward from 5. Look around you and observe:
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things your can smell (or 2 smells you like)
1 emotion you feel
Taking a moment to pause and bring awareness to your surroundings can aid in grounding you and restoring a sense of calm when feeling overwhelmed.