State of Mind

Living in Interesting Times

These past couple of months have been quite interesting as the Covid-19 pandemic has ramped up across the world. This catastrophe has caused people to react in many different ways. A person’s state of mind really does dictate their actions. From my observations, it appears that people are either reacting with a form of ignorant bliss, fear or with a sound mind. This led me to think about ignorant bliss vs. fear vs. sound mind. Is it possible to move from one to the other? What causes people to react in one way or the other? These are some ideas I would like to explore.

 The Situation and State of Mind

Here is the situation. In the United States, many people appeared to be unfazed while the pandemic was in China and other parts of the world. Even when the first case came to the United States, people in my state appeared quite unconcerned. It was almost as if they didn’t care as long as it didn’t affect them or change their everyday lives. When you really start to analyze it, this occurs in many different areas with many different situations.

Once the number of cases started to grow, more people started paying attention. However, there still wasn’t much happening as far as getting prepared or getting educated on what information we had about the virus. It seemed that people preferred to live in ignorant bliss.

Ignorant Bliss

This is the stage we all like to live in at some point. When something tough comes up, we like to think that it isn’t real. If I don’t know anything about it, it isn’t really happening. However, just because you aren’t informed, it doesn’t mean that the situation isn’t real. Burying your head in the sand does not make the situation go away. I propose that this is one of the most dangerous stages, particularly when it comes to Covid-19.

No one wants to believe that the pandemic is real. However, it is important to be as informed as possible. You need to be informed about what has been learned about the virus. This is important so you can protect yourself, your family, and others in your community. Continuing to remain ignorant puts all these groups at risk. While you can argue, “I didn’t know”, that is a terrible argument. This is particularly true with all of the new information coming out.

Not only does ignorance put you in danger of contracting and spreading the disease, it also puts you at risk for not being prepared. You need to be able to create a plan about how you will handle a self-isolation or mandated stay at home order. These are not things you want to be figuring out on the fly.

Fear

The feeling of fear seems to be very prevalent at this point. Many people hear the word pandemic and start acting irrationally. I have seen so many instances of panic buying. People are rushing to the store and purchasing a bunch of stuff that they don’t even know if they need. When a person is living in the state of fear and panic, they can’t think clearly. The very definition of panic is “sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior.” This is a very dangerous place to live.

What causes people to get to this state of panic and fear? There can be many different reasons why people panic and react with a spirit of fear. In the case of the pandemic, psychologists interviewed in a CNBC article, attribute this panic to the discrepancy in information. When those in authority are giving inconsistent messages, it makes people feel uneasy and start to panic. When they go to the store to start “preparing,” they aren’t thinking clearly and they start buying whatever they see other people buying. This leads to that mad dash to get particular items such as toilet paper. In these times of uncertainty, people just want to find a way that they can exert some type of perceived control.

Sound Mind

The stark opposite of fear would be approaching the situation with a sound mind. This is defined as “sane or rational.” While it might seem that these people are the minority at this time, there are more than you think who fit in to this category. These are the people who take a step back and look at the entire situation. They take the time to educate themselves on what is happening around the world. They look at what is happening and take some time to breathe before making a decision or taking action.

Living in this state is most desirable. However, it can also be the hardest stage to stay in. This requires a great deal of intentionality. The good news is that you don’t have to rely on yourself to live in this stage.

Where Does that Leave Us

This whole situation is a real challenge for someone who likes to feel like I have some control over my day to day living. The reality is, I don’t have control over anything on a regular basis. Ultimately God is in control of everything at all times. That being said, sitting around doing nothing is what can cause someone to move into the stage of fearful living.

So, what can we do? Evaluate your present state of mind. This time offers some unique challenges, but also some very unique opportunities. We don’t know what they future will hold. However, we do know that this is the best time to make sure that you have things settled spiritually. If you already have things settled, it is a good time to dive deeper and grow in your spiritual walk. The second main concern involves the economic state of our country. While we don’t have control of the economic state of the country, we can start taking a look at what we can do to improve our personal economic situation. This is also a great time to begin, or improve, taking care of your health.

I will be creating future blog posts with some ideas for focusing on each of these areas. There will always be challenges that come up. It is hard to find balance in these uncertain times, but as long as we are taking to steps to move forward progress will be made. Take this time to determine what state of mind you will choose to live in and what action steps you can take today.