Inner chaos can feel daunting.
Chaos brings about uncertainty, fears, and inabilities, and it is inevitable. Life is crazy, hectic, and uncertain, amplifying the chaos within us. With all of the outer chaos in today’s world that seems to bombard us every second, finding any peace between all the challenges being thrown at us can seem impossible. Living with internal chaos can affect our lives and well-being in many ways. It can cause us to lose focus and bog down our minds. It can cause stress and make day-to-day tasks more difficult. Internal chaos also causes emotional and psychological distress. Yet chaos is not the enemy. Instead, chaos is simply a symptom that alerts us to a bigger problem: dissatisfaction. Inner chaos is an overwhelming sense of dissatisfaction and unhappiness with ourselves as humans and the life we are living. Here’s how inner chaos manifests for me:
I’ve often turned to philosophy when facing the chaos within, particularly the Stoics. The Stoics focus on two things:
The goal of Stoicism is to reach inner peace by facing and overcoming adversity, practicing self-control, being conscious of our impulses, and realizing our ephemeral nature and the short time allotted. These practices helped them live with their nature and not against it. We must understand the obstacles we face and not run from them; we must learn to transform them into fuel to feed our fire. I will share some of my favorite principles from the Stoic school of philosophy. Stoic tenets will improve your overall state of mind and life if embraced and exercised regularly. Living intentionally and authentically requires us to be vulnerable, committed, adaptive, and brave, which requires a mindset that can readily negate distractions or negative impulses while focusing our hearts and minds on what’s important. It’s a tricky balancing act. Without a philosophy to guide our work and life, we will relentlessly succumb to our excuses and distractions. We will make the comfortable mistake of acting on our moods, not our principles. Principle #1: Acknowledge that all emotions come from within. It is not outside forces that make us feel something; what we tell ourselves creates our feelings. A stressful situation or unmarked to-do list is not inherently stressful—our thoughts about them are stressing us out. Many of us want to place blame and responsibility on external objects because it’s easy to do, but the truth remains that all conflicts start internally in our minds. When we flee from reality—a deadline, an urgent email—we are doing nothing but harming ourselves and undermining our self-discipline. The next time you encounter an obstacle and feel resistance, don’t look at what’s around you. Instead, look within. Principle #2: Recognize there is life after failure. We can spend months or even years on a project, only to hear destructive criticism or, worse, see it fail. When we share a part of ourselves in our work, and it fails, it can feel painful. But recovering from that failure is a practice, a mindset. The lessons we can internalize from that failed experience can help us improve. No failure, no growth. Principle #3: Challenge yourself to be brutally honest. It’s hard to change habits if we aren’t aware of why we didn’t do what we planned to do today and chose to watch mindless series instead. It’s essential to be mindful of the urges that obstruct us from showing up, engaging, committing, and being present. “Why, exactly, am I feeling this way?” Get to the bottom of that. Investigate it. Dissect it. When you feel resistance, use that as a cue to go forward. The challenge, of course, is training yourself to think that way. This isn’t about talent or some unconscious reflex. Instead, the practice of self-awareness—to think about your thinking—in how you think, feel, and behave is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes. Principle #4: Reflect on what you spend the most time on. Scrolling your Instagram feed? You’re probably not even paying attention to those reels and sponsored ads. That email? I know it’s fun connecting, but can it wait? In my observations, people who live their best lives do so because of their ability to prioritize. They honor every hour of their day. If we put cameras behind our heroes, would our life ethics compare? Our focus? Our determination to get things done? To do something that matter to you most? Principle #5: Put the phone away and be present. It’s not that we live in an age of distractions, but rather a period where we fail to teach and embrace mindful motives. To be present, as well as learning to be alone, is a habit. Some people are good at it because they make time to do it if needed, or they would go mad. Throughout your day, find a moment to sit and be still, however fleeting. It doesn’t matter where you are. Take a few deep breaths, put your phone on silent so there’s no chance of interruption, and just reflect on the events that took place throughout your day. When you’re working, be ruthlessly present. Let your mind focus on the task and what you’re trying to accomplish, and do it with diligence, patience, attentiveness, and care. Sooner or later, you’ll realize how much of an asset this is to your overall quality of life. Principle #6: Remind yourself that time is our most precious resource. What I particularly love and find challenging about Stoicism is that death is at the forefront of their thoughts. They realized the ephemeral nature of humans. It provides a sense of urgency to realize that you’ve lived a certain number of hours, and the hours ahead of you are not guaranteed as the ones you have lived. When I think of this, I realize that every day truly is an opportunity to improve, not in a cliché kind of way, but to learn to honestly appreciate what we are capable of achieving and how we are very responsible for the quality of our lives. It makes our self-respect, work ethic, generosity, self-awareness, attention, and growth evermore significant. The last thing any of us wants to do is die with regret, hence why following principles of Stoicism puts your life into perspective. It humbles you and should also deeply motivate you. How we lead our lives must embody the principles we practice. Less comparing, criticizing, and consuming; more creating, learning, and living. How about you? What current principles do you follow that help you master inner chaos? Join the discussion in the community.
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AuthorI was born in 1986 in Lebanon. I'm still trying to find my passion in life and in the meantime I'm learning to navigate my bipolarity and redefining stability. Archives
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