Managing fear, anxiety and resistance

By Judy Joseph McSween
Time Out Specialist – Emotional Intelligence, Conversational Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence Coach.

Let’s PAUSE and become fully present to this moment. Become aware of our breathing…take a few deep breaths in and out, inhaling peace and exhaling our anxiety.
Given the ongoing growth in stress-related behaviours, illnesses and suicides, I felt obliged to return to this issue.
Data presented by Six Seconds’ research on global Emotional Intelligence–see State of the Heart 2024–indicate that globally, Emotional Intelligence has been on a decline for the last five years.
Directly associated with this, is continued decline in our capacity to connect, adapt, and move ahead. This is further corroborated by the rising levels of burnout, declines in empathy, trust, motivation, and increased loneliness.
We are hearing, reading and seeing increases in depression, anxiety and suicide. Appreciate that although we may not have been personally polled for this survey, that we are, each of us, experiencing varying degrees of stress and displaying the associated behaviours.
It may be demonstrated through addictions, the quality of our interpersonal relationships, physical ailments or lack of self-care.
That colleague we have who we describe as driven, or a workaholic, may in fact be masking fears, anxieties … stress. They may be resisting the pause, that would allow them to face the discomforts, that the busyness is helping them avoid.
Are you conscious of the quality of the conversations in which you engage while in your various workspaces—school, home, office, ministry?
While I am hesitant to say that we are always complaining, the reality is that we are spending an inordinate amount of time focused on what is wrong or inadequate, a small percentage focused on what we can celebrate, a small percentage on what the solutions are and a minuscule amount of time on putting solutions to action, because we perceive that the accountability and responsibility lie beyond us.
This appears contra to what we are called to in scripture… spreading good news. Take some time to explore whether this pattern is evident in any of the circles in which you operate.
We experience anxiety around the need for change. We fear personally having to do something different, so we place the accountability and responsibility on others. Then there is our subtle resistance to change, whereby we identify numerous obstacles to the change process—the leaders, the system, mindsets … all apparently external to us. Where is our faith during such periods?
Reach for your Bible and read and reflect on the following passages: The Woman from Nain (Lk 7:11-17) and the Shunammite Woman (2 Kings 4:11-35). In both stories, we see that these women experience God in their lives, in ways that showed that what is impossible to us, mere mortals, is possible to God. We have a Saviour who can overcome with just a word, who can speak the dead to life.
In the words of Matthew 6:25-34, do not worry: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”
Amid our fear and anxiety, we fail to see the doors that God has opened and is opening for us. We fail to hear the words that He is speaking to us. We fail to demonstrate our faith in God’s words.

Practice

Let’s practise being our brother’s keeper. As Galatians 6:1-2 reminds us, when we hear these conversations, be countercultural, encourage each other to PAUSE and breathe. Name the emotions that we are experiencing. Remember, why are we here? What’s our vocation and whether our current thoughts, feelings, emotions, and behaviours are aligned with realising that vocation.
What scripture verse or sacred rhythm can reground us in our vocation, in the moment? Perhaps Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want”; Psalm 119:36, “Bend my hear toward your instructions and not toward selfish gain.”

Reflection

Observe what happens when you begin to implement this practice. Peace be with you.

Contact Judy Joseph Mc Sween to schedule a personal or a group Time Out session to enhance your self-awareness and self-management competencies. E-mail judy@timeoutspecialist.com or call (1-868) 684-9827