Anxiety especially too much of it, seems to be the scourge of the 21st century.

We are all anxious, well many of us are and some more than others.

Experts tell us that anxiety was an inbuilt strategy which came naturally to our forebears in times of danger, when wild beasts were attacking hunter gatherers. They call it the flight or fight response.

Experts tell us that this response or anxiety has no place in modern day society. Basically we don't need to fight off animals to survive so why should we be anxious?

We are given exercises/meditation techniques to stop the anxious thoughts, medication to calm our minds and help us sleep. To stop our anxious thoughts.

But my thinking is different and challenges these well worn assumptions and easy advice which is dished out to us in bucket loads in every daily newspaper, magazine and health programme.

What if anxiety were necessary for living in the 21st century? What if it was a valuable tool for coping with everything that the internet, social media, responsibilities, governments, national and local, wars, the terrorism threat, crowded motorways, global warming etc throws at us on a daily basis?

It's not us who should change and try to be less anxious!

It's people in authority, those who are in power, the 9% who own more wealth than the entire population, those who make decisions for us all who are responsible for our anxiety.

I am not saying as individuals we can't change society and make it a less anxious place to live in. We can! As long as we stop blaming ourselves for being anxious.

It's not us who needs to change but can we not look outside the box and forget about our anxieties and not exactly try to change the world but take small steps to effect a change?

Can you think of how this might be achieved? Or maybe you don't agree with me?

Jul xx

A Moodscope member