2. Fighting the OTHER Battle We Can’t See | #walkwithme
“You can’t fight a battle you don’t think exists.” – John Eldredge About This Episode: All of humanity is facing the same battle at the exact same time and fighting an enemy we can’t see or touch. Meanwhile, it’s ruining lives.
“You can’t fight a battle you don’t think exists.”
— John Eldredge
About This Episode:
In this episode of “#WalkWithMe” I uncover another virus that is aggressively hijacking the minds and behaviors of millions of people around the world—and offer some thoughts on how we can stop it from going viral.
All of humanity is facing the same battle at the exact same time and fighting an enemy we can’t see or touch. Meanwhile, it’s ruining lives.
You think I’m talking about COVID-19, but in this case, I’m focused on the other virus we’re plagued with: Fear. And just like a virus, it can’t be seen, tasted or heard. But it can grow, infect and affect.
This virus doesn’t need physical contact to become viral; all it needs is a phone, a screen, a social channel or a conversation to infect others and manifest in worry, panic, concern, mental health, lack of sleep, violence… And here’s the thing: Many people don’t know they’re infected with it.
Here’s some thoughts on what we can do to fight the pandemic of fear and keep it from going viral.
#1 – Don’t solve problems that don’t yet exist.
I’m willing to bet 99% of what we stress about never actually happens. And this means that 99% of what we think about or are emotional about does not actually exist.
#2 – Focus on what you can control.
Everything falls into two buckets: Things you can control, and things you cannot control. So, focus on what you can control: like being prepared, following instructions and listening to the experts.
#3 – Share facts, not fear.
Don’t be a perpetuator of the fear virus; instead be a teacher of the facts that inform. If you’re sick with a virus, you wouldn’t run around and touch everybody so they get infected. It’s the same thing with fear—don’t spread it to others.
#4 – Raise the ratio of positive to negative.
What is the percentage of info you’re taking in that is positive and negative? Is it 1 positive to every 100 negatives? Flip the ratio. Make it 100 positives to every 1 negative.
#5 – Take steps of action because motion creates emotion.
Just like emotion affects reaction, actions can affect our emotions. So, start with taking a step of action to move forward, like not grabbing your phone first thing in the morning and scrolling negativity. Put it in another room so you have to first get up and get dressed.
What steps will you take to win the battle against fear?