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Do any of you remember the musical, “Stop the World- I Want to Get Off”, with lyrics and music, by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley? You may be too young, but I saw it on Broadway when I was a teenager. The sentiment of the title is one I think a lot of people are feeling nowadays, and many tell me how overwhelmed they often feel.
It’s hard not to feel despondent and weighed down by all of the terrible things going on in this country, and around the world. It’s especially hard to be a caring, kind, altruistic person and not feel the pain and horror that we see and read about every day, and that feels like it’s intensifying. There are days when even the most easygoing and well-balanced person has that feeling and wants to say, “Stop the World”, so they can take a much-needed break from the madness all around.
When one is a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) it’s so much more difficult to shut it out and to continue to be optimistic, or even at times, to function without feeling completely overwhelmed.
We have to be creative about ways we take a break from the madness. We have to find ways to step back and wrap ourselves up temporarily in people, places and things that comfort and nourish us, or we won’t survive. Yes, having the freedom to do that is “privilege” that many others don’t have. I don’t mean that we can allow ourselves to get lost in self-indulgence or denial and to live such insular lives that we forget about all of the hardship and suffering that others must endure.
Still, to get dragged down all the time by current events, and by the heinous and sad things we see and read about every single day, means we are allowing evil and negativity to win and to control us. We are allowing it to drain the energy that we need to pick up the fight and to get out there and offer whatever strengths, skills, talents, money, support and hope we can to others in need.
What about you? Do you find yourself overwhelmed by what you see, hear and read about nowadays? What helps you keep your spirits up? Are you a Highly Sensitive Person? Maybe you aren’t, and just see yourself as a regular Joe or Jill, though these hard times, or perhaps some difficult things you have personally been through have knocked the wind out of you. Will you share the things that help you survive when the world around you is crumbling, and when the media is full of ugly actions and words, hate and natural or man-made disasters?
We want to know!
Iris J. Arenson-Fuller, PCC (That’s me!) helps people who’ve been through tough times, to find the skills and resources they have somehow lost along the way, or to create a set of new skills, in order to live the lives they truly want to live. I help clients who are mostly midlife women, widows and Baby Boomers, with tough life stage, family or relationship changes. I help people go from Life Stinks to Life Shines in their personal lives or businesses. If you want to learn more about how I can help you or someone you know, please contact me. Please also pass on things I write to others, if you like them. Do grab your free reports or collections of free articles you can get on this website. Stay a while and read, and subscribe to my mailing list too. I would be honored to have you join my community!
