Why Everyone is Anxious Right Now

Why Everyone is Anxious Right Now

It's not just you. You feel it, right? That low-grade hum of anxiety buzzing just beneath the surface. That feeling that the world is spinning a little too fast, that you’re constantly running to catch up, but the finish line keeps moving. You’re not crazy. You’re not broken. You’re a perfectly adapted biological machine living in a world that’s changing faster than your wiring can handle.

We’re told to meditate more, to practice mindfulness, to disconnect. We’re sold a bill of goods that anxiety is a personal failing, a bug in our software. Bullshit. The problem isn’t you. The problem is that we’re living in a state of unprecedented thermodynamic flux, and our brains are struggling to keep up. We’re far from equilibrium, and it’s making us all a little crazy.

The Problem: Our Outdated Wetware

Most of what you’ve been told about the world is a lie. Not a malicious lie, but a comfortable one. We’re taught to seek balance, stability, and equilibrium. We build our lives around the idea of a predictable, orderly existence. But the universe doesn’t work that way. The fundamental law of the universe, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, tells us that everything is moving towards a state of greater disorder, of entropy. There is no stasis. There is only the forward arrow of time, and the relentless march of chaos.

Our brains, the most complex systems we know of, evolved over millions of years in a relatively stable environment. Our ancestors dealt with immediate, tangible threats: a predator in the bushes, a rival tribe, a sudden storm. Their anxiety was a survival mechanism, a spike of cortisol and adrenaline that prepared them to fight or flee. It was acute, and it was temporary. Once the threat passed, the system returned to baseline.

But our modern world is different. The threats are no longer in the bushes; they’re in our pockets, on our screens, in the very air we breathe. We’re bombarded with a constant stream of information, a relentless firehose of bad news, political polarization, and social media posturing. Our brains, designed for a world of slow, incremental change, are now faced with exponential technological and social disruption. We are living in a state of chronic, low-grade, far-from-equilibrium stress. And our ancient wiring is freaking out.

The Application: Are You an FLP or a BLP?

So, what does this all mean for you, right now, in your own life? It means you have a choice. You can be a BLP, a person who resists the flow of time, who tries to build a dam against the river of change. You can cling to old ideas, old identities, and old ways of doing things. You can curse the chaos and lament the loss of a mythical, stable past. And you can be perpetually anxious, because you are fighting a battle you are guaranteed to lose. The universe always wins.

Or, you can be an FLP. You can accept that the world is in a constant state of flux. You can embrace the chaos as the engine of creation. You can learn to surf the waves of change instead of being crushed by them. You can understand that your anxiety is not a personal failing, but a signal. It’s a signal that you are out of sync with the flow of the universe. It’s a signal that your ECS is struggling to keep up. It’s a signal that you need to adapt.

I’ve been there. I’ve been the BLP, clinging to the wreckage of a life that was no longer serving me. I’ve felt the crushing weight of anxiety, the paralysis of fear. But I learned, through the teachings of Dr. Bob and my own painful experience, that the only way out is through. The only way to beat the anxiety is to embrace the chaos. To become an FLP.

It’s not easy. It requires a fundamental shift in your perspective. It requires you to let go of the illusion of control and to embrace the uncertainty of the future. It requires you to actively support your endocannabinoid system, to give your body the tools it needs to adapt. But it’s the only path to true freedom and peace of mind in this crazy, beautiful, far-from-equilibrium world.

The Takeaway

So how do you do it? How do you make the shift from a BLP to an FLP? Here are a few practical steps you can take right now:

1. Feed Your ECS: Your endocannabinoid system is the key to your resilience. Support it with a healthy diet, regular exercise, and, if it’s right for you, cannabis. Cannabis is a powerful tool for modulating the ECS, for helping your body and mind adapt to stress. It’s not about getting stoned; it’s about restoring balance to your master regulatory system.
2. Embrace Novelty: Our brains are designed to respond to novelty. When we get stuck in a rut, when we do the same things day in and day out, our brains get bored and our anxiety spikes. Seek out new experiences. Learn a new skill. Travel to a new place. Talk to someone with a different perspective. Shake things up. The more you embrace novelty, the more you train your brain to adapt to change.
3. Practice Detachment: This isn’t about not caring. It’s about not being attached to outcomes. Understand that you can’t control the world. You can only control your response to it. Do your best, put in the work, but then let go. Trust in the process of self-organization. Trust that the universe will find a way, even if it’s not the way you expected.
4. Find Your Flow: Flow is the state of being fully immersed in an activity, of being so focused that you lose track of time. It’s the ultimate far-from-equilibrium state. Whether it’s through creative work, physical activity, or deep conversation, find the things that get you into a state of flow. The more time you spend in flow, the less time you’ll spend in anxiety.

This isn’t a quick fix. It’s a lifelong practice. It’s a commitment to living in alignment with the fundamental laws of the universe. It’s a commitment to being an FLP, a person who flows forward, adapts, and evolves.

It’s the only way to survive, and thrive, in the 21st century. The past is gone. The future is unwritten. All we have is this moment, this ever-advancing edge of chaos. Don’t be afraid of it. Dance with it.