Episode Info:

We haven’t generally done episodes related to current events, but these events are challenging to ignore. The coronavirus pandemic has already placed a heavy toll on society – over a hundred thousand people have already been sick, thousands are dead, businesses, schools, and recreational events have closed, and there's been substantial economic turmoil.

Today we’re exploring how to cope with the natural fears that arise during challenging times, the difference between useful and harmful anxiety, and how we can grow the inner strengths we need to thrive when things get tough.

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Key Topics:

4:50: Rick’s approach to this moment.

6:00: Claiming your agency.

10:40: Useful anxiety vs. harmful anxiety.

13:45: What makes something uniquely scary.

18:15: Finding, sometimes not particularly useful, ways to express agency.

22:30: How to start determining which form of anxiety you’re experiencing.

25:00: Three ways to work with excessive negative rumination.

28:30: Tools for managing needless anxiety.

33:00: Recognizing privilege while working through survivor’s guilt.

36:30: Anger and the sadness underneath it.

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