Daily Gratitude: This is an important concept given all the chaos swirling around us. We must remain calm. Remember that when someone is angry or anxious, their frontal lobe shuts down and the primitive regions of the brain are all that’s functioning (the brain interprets anger and anxiety as danger signs and goes into protective mode).

When your frontal lobe shuts down your cognitive function shuts down. You can’t really face and challenges in a productive manner. You need a productive calm demeanor to conquer those challenges.

This is the time for you to learn calming techniques if you haven’t already. There’s breathing techniques, meditation, walking meditation, yoga. Etc. Start employing them now and make it a habit- not just for when you’re anxious or angry but on a daily basis. That will help them become more natural and effective.

The goal is to remain calm.

Daily Gratitude: What great guidance this quote is. It isn’t a black and white missive you see so much of.

What do I mean by that? Many people proclaim that you shouldn’t be in the past at all. I don’t think that’s useful advice nor is it realistic. The past and it memories often hold excellent lessons for us.

What this says, though, is that if you are going to “revisit” the past, monitor how much time you’re spending there and be aware of when it seems to be interfering with getting things done in the here and now.

Just as we need to recognize how much time we spend “scrolling” in social media, we need to do the same process when we find ourselves “scrolling” in our past.

The “past” includes thinking about things you think you did wrong or what you should or shouldn’t have done or said last week, last month, last night, etc. If there’s something productive that comes from looking in that direction, fine but second guessing and condemnation are just like all the annoying ads that seem to pop up endlessly in your other scrolling activities. They do nothing useful.

Can you “exit” these ruminations or are you caught in either of these addictions – social media or the past?

Daily Gratitude: Pay attention to this at this time in our lives. Why? Because there seems to be chaos everywhere we look.

But, beneath that cauldron of swirling terror and hate, lies beauty and potential happiness. We have to slow down and look for it though. In this age of bright shiny objects, the beauty is layered beneath and behind the glitter. It’s the backdrop, the canvas upon which the big advertisement is flashed. We don’t normally see that backdrop because of the glare of the bright shiny object but I guarantee you it’s there. Look closely

Whenever you’re feeling anxious and scared or even angry and hurt, move to your microscope mode and closely examine all that is around you. Strip off the superficial so you can see what is beautiful underneath.

At first it may take some practice and some time but the more you do it, the easier it will become.