There is a lot of confusion today. Confusion over who to trust and what information is factual. How to process and understand ever-changing rules and policies, and what decisions to make when change is sudden. Confusion creates anxiety, frustration, fear, anger, and panic. These feelings, if strong enough, can activate our fight, flight, or freeze reflexes, leaving us increasingly vulnerable to react rather than strategically act.

In states of reaction we seek to self-protect, deflect, blame, and attack the perceived threats around us—real or not. Impulses take over and rationality becomes secondary, inhibiting our ability to connect with our feelings and clearly understand the situation. Specific training in methods that help aid self-regulation in moments of stress, such as therapy, yoga, and meditative spiritual practices, can create new impulses that help the mind and body remain connected. Being involved with a supportive, diverse, and educated community also helps regulate our emotional states, creating opportunities for constructive dialogue and reflection.

As new crises continue to unfold, the world will feel increasingly confusing and upside down. The responsibility of informed, active, and concerned neighbors in these times is to remain grounded and connected to ourselves and each other. Patient and strategic action over reaction must become our new disciplined impulse. Maintaining hope and clarity in the chaos will be our guiding light for an anxious world.

Until we clearly understand the true problems we’re confronting, we’ll fail to arrive at real solutions. Many will angrily point at and accuse the symptoms, but ignore the cause. Clarity is achieved when we patiently examine the whole system and discover the source of its true illness. Our values of hope will keep us grounded and focused on what matters most: building a better tomorrow, together.