By Tere Ruiz
Very often we turn on the TV and watch the news, read the newspaper or talk to a person who brings bad news about the world or the neighborhood or the country we live in (do you happen to know somebody like that?). After listening to this news or comments about a specific situation, we start to feel fear about what we heard or were told and think of all the horrible things that might happen. Then we wait for the next newscast, or go to internet to research about it. Later we call or meet somebody and tell them what we heard and researched, and that person tells us what he or she has heard about the same topic. Suddenly we realize how worried, fearful, nervous and stressed we are feeling.
Has this ever happened to you? It is very common. Some people call this Collective Fear; everybody talks about something horrible that is happening, it is on TV, in the newspapers, on the internet, in every conversation you have, and every time you hear more and more about it, you feel even worse.
Collective Fear can be a very dangerous thing for your health, your well being, and even for your future. It makes you get sick, sometimes you can’t sleep at night, it makes you feel anxious and it can even stop you from doing something or making plans freely for your life, as you can only plan around what you have heard that is happening or might happen if you do this or that, or what might happen in the future.
Some examples of collective fear are the fear we might have towards terrorism, a pandemic, a financial crisis, a weather disaster or even a cataclysm. I remember that when I was a little girl everybody used to say that in the year 2000, the Earth would explode and we would all die. When I turned 40, I realized that I had never thought of my life after the year 2000. I had no dreams, plans, expectations…nothing, and what I discovered was that nothing bad had happened that year. Instead there were great festivities all over the world. I remember that my daughter and her cousins didn’t quite really understand why all the grownups in the family were so excited about the 2000 New Year’s Eve celebration.
I also remember that in 1985 when we had a big earthquake in Mexico City, lots of people decided to move out of the city, others would say that there were studies that said there would be another even worse earthquake in the near future, and everyone started to live in fear regarding earthquakes. Before the 1985 earthquake nobody cared a lot about earthquakes in Mexico City because they were very common; but after that, you can always see all the people running and having a panic crisis every time the land moves even a little bit. And again, the young people who were born after 1985 don’t understand why grownups make a big deal about earthquakes.
Can you think of any specific collective fear situation that has affected your life? If you live outside Mexico, I am sure that you have heard lots of things that are supposedly going on down here, as Adamaire King wrote in an article about what the media says, we are “either beheaded, kidnapped, poor, corrupt, or narco-traffickers, or that all of us have swine flu!” And, of course, these kind of people not only live in Mexico but also in the rest of the world, but this is very far from the real truth of Mexico, and the funniest part is that we Mexicans don’t even know that this is said about us. Anyway, in the rest of the world, there seems to be a collective fear about traveling or even moving to Mexico. When I visited Canada last May, while I was hiking around the Killarney Lake in Bowen Island, a young kid asked me where I was from and when I said Mexico City, his sisters started walking away from me, and he asked me if we had swine flu in Mexico City. I answered that I had heard that in the news, but that I had never seen it or knew anybody who had it.
Imagination is a great thing when you are creative and positive…your mind can run very fast. Just imagine when you were planning a big event like a wedding, many ideas start to show up regarding which place would be better, which time of the year, who would be the guests, what outfit to choose, which flowers, which music, which food…but if you focus your mind on negativity, unfortunately the negative mind works just as fast and you realize you are overwhelmed already. So when you think of something negative, suddenly you discover that you have made a whole story filled with drama regarding all the horrible things that can happen.
So how can we free ourselves from Collective Fears?
1. Think of how many times you had fear about something and nothing really happened.
2. Whenever you feel fear for something, put some love in the equation. It is said that fear is the absence of Love, so put some love into it like you would put salt and pepper to the food you don’t really like, to make it tastier. After that you will realize that it was not that bad at all. The salt could be the love and the pepper could be a little bit of common sense.
3. Try to avoid listening to bad news, predictions or assumptions of what might happen in the future. And if you do, do your own research about what you are hearing, ask the people who know about it, people who are trustworthy. But above all, seriously think if what you heard is really true and even possible. Most of the times you will end up laughing about how many absurd things people say sometimes.
4. Be aware of your own thoughts and whenever you discover yourself thinking of negative things, sing a nice song, play with your children or pets, call somebody you love or do whatever is necessary to stop your mind playing tricks on you.
5. Whenever you think of what you want to do, yes, be careful and aware, but never stop yourself from doing something just because you’re worried about what might happen. Instead think of all the joy you will feel whenever you accomplish your goals and how nothing will stop you from doing it. It really is very simple…when you think of going on vacation, do you think of all the horrible things that could happen to you? No, you think of the great time you will have.
6. Be grateful for everything you are, have and have accomplished. Be grateful for all the love you have in your life, be grateful for being alive and having a new opportunity to succeed.
7. Give love and joy to everyone around you and, I strongly believe, you will be rewarded with lots of love and joy in return.
8. And if you are thinking of moving to Lake Chapala, come on a Focus on Mexico Program, and give yourself the opportunity to test-drive Mexico. Don’t let that negative person (either inside you or outside you!) , the media or anybody stop you. Come and see with your own eyes this wonderful place and listen with your own ears what all the speakers, the Focus Staff and the people who have already moved here have to tell you about living in Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico! We are waiting for you to give us the opportunity to share our piece of paradise with you.
Tere Ruiz-Rodarte: Director of Research and Development FocusOnMexico .
Focus On Mexico offers 8-Day Educational Programs to Ajijic and Lake Chapala, Mexico (2nd Best Climate in the World). Join us on a Focus program and learn why thousands of Americans and Canadians chose to retire in Lake Chapala.
Our programs offer the perfect balance; a wonderful vacation and an insightful, educational experience. Our expert speakers cover all topics: Health Care, Real Estate, Legal System, Immigration, Bringing Pets, Cost of Living, US Taxes for Americans, Non-Residency for Canadians, Living on the Lakeside, Investing in Mexico, Mexican Economy and much more...
You’ll get everything you need to help you decide if Lake Chapala, Mexico is the place for you, plus have a lot of fun doing it. Retiring in Mexico couldn't be better.