Coping with Fears at Work

Hello again.

I get to defend my dissertation this coming week, and I have some time to pontificate. I have some positives going in my life, but as usual there are the negatives.

A lot has appeared to have changed in this world since I last wrote in October. Barak Obama has been elected president--that is a lot in terms of history. I would have thought that many of my staunch democratic co-workers would have been happy and dancing.

Mind you, I am not trying to be partisan here, but many of the more histrionic types at work have been self-righteously angry about how Republicans were evil and anyone who did not vote for Obama were stupid. Okay, now he is elected, and there was only a bit of happiness. Why were they not dancing? I think that they can never be happy.

One particular self-proclaimed "Massacheutts liberal" was still depressed the day after election day. I told him that I thought he would be more ebullient?

These histrionic, self-righteous types have moved onto another fear: that of the economy. We are having some changes at the hospital in the way people will be moved around. The histrionic are afraid all the more. They are talking recession and depression Why?

I have decided that some of the most histrionic and pessimistic types are idealists that cannot see gray areas. I think that this is really true of the staunchest Republicans and the staunchest Democrats. I have some family members who are Republicans and I have co-workers who are Democrats who fit in this category. My coworkers have moved onto the next potential catastrophe.

Well the next catastrophe could be work. There is going to be reorganization. Some programs are going to be closed. Some people are going to be moved around. There is retrenchment on the way at work. There are fears.

I have not heard anything official yet. I was told by equal in the department that he was part of the meeting late yesterday afternoon. He heard the decision.

I had some decisions to make myself at that time. I decided to start telling people about the upcoming changes in a vague, general way.

It turned out to be a good deal, because right after I had started telling people, my equal came over to one of my departments and opened his big mouth and gave far more information than I did. He has poor boundaries.

I had to be the voice of calm and reason. I had to be the one to reassure people. It was not easy damage control.

I think that it is not easy to be calm and think with reason period when others are afraid at work.

We continue to be saturated with bad news. The media continues to intensify the bad news with the MMII (media magnified informational intensification) effect. There is almost a brain-washing effect.

While admitting I do not know what the future holds, I am willing to bet that it will not be as bad as people fear. Yes, the economy is in a downturn, but for 92-94 percent of us, we will keep our jobs. We will have what we need. We will keep busy. We will still be able to afford to go out to eat.

How do we maintain our sanity in times of change and retrenchment when there are fears at work? Here are 10 suggestions:

1. We commit to a simple philosophy of calmness--we do not have to join others in their hysteria.
2. We work hard at our jobs.

3. We turn off the TV and Radio at times.

4. We back away from the people who are obsessing about the recession and talking about it all the time. We eat lunch somewhere else.

5. We do things that we enjoy.

6. When we are not working we do things that matter for the people that matter in our lives.

7. We go to our houses of worship and we practice our faith.

8. We learn new things to better ourselves as people.

9. We choose our attitude each day.

10. We take care of ourselves by proper nutrition, and proper sleep.

These ideas are not going to eradicate the fears at work, but they will help us stay calm. Staying calm takes work and ongoing self-care.