The End of Worrying ?

[d_squared]

!

The day the story of my worries ends

Time packs its clock away and quits.

Outside my window the trees no longer quiver and bend

Leaving the wind to howl alone, in fits.




The day the story of my foibles finishes

Case closed , what else is left to do ?

Gone are all my performing masks , all dreams and wishes

Laying bare the long-hidden ghost , plain and true ...

.

Dear Yi King, Please help me explore "How to cope with anxiety ?"









​

 

[Liselle]

Time packs its clock away and quits.

What a clever line.

16.2.5.6 to 6

How to cope with anxiety? With enthusiasm. (Which is not easy to summon when one is anxious - I am quite familiar with this.)

Wonder if 6 reflects that your worry comes from feeling things aren't as they should be and you don't have what you need? Hexagram 6 is preceded in the sequence of hexagrams by hexagram 5, Waiting. The Xuogua, the sequence text, says, "Drinking and eating naturally mean Arguing" - the mere fact that we need food and drink to live means that inevitably there will be conflict over it. Picture even something like children fighting over the last cookie. Try substituting 'anxiety' for 'fighting,' and whatever has gone wrong for you for 'cookie,' and see if it makes any sense.

Maybe line 2 is advice to realize nothing is permanent, even what seems to have you walled in.
Line 5 might be reassurance, if you can take it to heart: Yi's telling you that whatever this is, it's not going to kill you, or more generally, maybe that even though things are bad, the worst possible things you're imagining don't have to happen. This might be pale comfort, but it's better than some other outcomes.
Line 6 - cope with your anxiety by keeping going, even when you can't see light at the end of the tunnel. At some point you'll see something that could be called a "result." From my experience with 16.6 it might be something quite small in comparison to the whole problem, but it's still a real sign of progress and it'll help if you give it the recognition it's due.

 

[Liselle]

Also would you like a moderator to move this into the Shared Readings forum? It'll be easier for more people to answer you there. You can click the "Report" button in the lower left corner of your post - just explain you'd like the thread moved.

 

[Trojina]

The exact same answer was recently in CC here


I think the answer is to do with imaginings, precautions, getting ready. While 16 is often called 'enthusiasm' it's about all kinds of mental preparation/inspiration the things that moves and motivates you. But this really isn't just referring to being keen to do something, it also includes worry and anxiety because these are also mental projections about what might be.

Whilst this capacity of humans to imagine, to look ahead (and I think Imagining is far nearer the meaning of 16 than 'enthusiasm') is what makes us a successful species, we can anticipate danger, take steps to avoid it- and that anticipation is in fact an imagining, it's also our downfall. it gives rise to worry.

I think 16 points to how your anticipation is the source of worry, a constant battle going on in your mind (6). Line 2 simply asks you to stop procrastinating. The more you put things off the harder they become, just start to act, start to do rather than dwell in anticipation.

Line 5, well realistically you can't just banish anxiety and worry over night. It can be an illness one has to learn to live with so don't worry if you can't stop worrying. Tell yourself you can't help this, you can't change overnight but it's okay, long term there's no damage.

In line 6 one is counselled to come back to earth and check facts before heading off into mental landscapes of future disaster. You could say here the cause of anxiety here is over enthusiastic preparation for the future, yet in line 6 the preparation one may have in mind may be completely out of synch with what's actually needed.

Who's poem is it ? Did you write it ?

 

[Trojina]

Just another thought, the title is 'the end of worrying' and I do feel the answer is saying that you would put huge pressure on yourself if you expected simply to stop worrying. You actually could make things worse by worrying about worrying. Whilst we are alive there is never going to be a complete end to worrying and I think line 6 is referring to that unrealistic expectation. However line 6 also says that once unrealistic expectations are dropped actual progress can be made. Once you know worrying is a part of you that you cannot entirely eliminate then perhaps you may be able to do something about those really irrational and harmful worries, weed out the real baddies.

 

[Liselle]

I think Imagining is far nearer the meaning of 16 than 'enthusiasm'

Nifty

 

[Trojina]

Imagining is after all image making

Although can't just change name it has to be named according to how it translates I guess but it's a hopeless hexagram title IMO

 

[Liselle]

Yes - I knew imagination was important, but it never occurred to me to demote enthusiasm. I get 16 a lot about a particular thing, and always think Yi's exhorting me to be enthusiastic - which it is, but I've never figured out how to summon that out of the blue sky. Stressing imagination makes a lot more sense.

 

[Trojina]

If you think about it worry is enthusiastic anticipation of negative outcomes. Enthusiasm itself is being so inspired by the image or idea that there is forward movement towards actuality.

Music, associated with 16, does this to people. It puts something in their minds that makes them want to move or worship or go to war or whatever

Mostly when I see 16 I see the building up of some kind of vision but this could be for negative or even misleading plans as well as positive enthusiasm and inspiration. The first thing I think of with 16 is 'what's the dream or vision or expectation here ?'.

 

[d_squared]

@Liselle and @Trojina
Thank you for the thoughtful input. Much appreciated.

I don't seem to have access to Change Circle , so can only guess that there has been a similar query in this forum about how to deal with anxiety, and the Yi has responded with the very same hexagram ? If that's the case then it would entail a remarkable degree of synchronicity .

The poem shown in the opening post is mine, written many years ago in a period of pretty low spirit, high anxiety . I was compelled to dig deep for ideas and inspirations in order to remain afloat. Rather sadly, it has occurred to me back then that "worries" would persist as long as "I" exist . The "worries" stealthily define "me", or put another way, "I" would not be "me" without "my worries" . "I" have to disappear before the worries would give up. Of course I could muscle up some effort to become a different person, but then I'd most likely end up trading old worries for new ones .

Like some incurable disease, anxiety may not be completely eradicated . The best one can do is learn to live with it , somehow find some way to alleviate the symptoms?

One tends to become anxious when faced with problems and challenges which appear to be beyond one's own ability. So a practical and expedient way to deal with it would be to search for inspirations and ideas which can boost confidence and morale, hopefully change attitude and open up new perspectives/opportunities . In this sense, the Yi's response to my query is quite spot on: "Get inspired" is the medicine for anxiety .

 

[Liselle]

Well, to be sure I find "get inspired" advice terribly Pollyanna-ish and not much help. But I might be missing the inspiration gene lol.

This is a reading where I think the hexagrams might be more a framework around the advice in the lines. See Trojina's fabulous "worry is enthusiastic anticipation of negative outcomes."

The lines seem like really good suggestions to me, but also a bit pale, which probably reflects as you say that worry isn't curable...

 

[Trojina]

I don't seem to have access to Change Circle , so can only guess that there has been a similar query in this forum about how to deal with anxiety, and the Yi has responded with the very same hexagram ? If that's the case then it would entail a remarkable degree of synchronicity .

Change Circle is the more private area of the forum with many learning resources so it's a paid for forum. As such I can't reveal what the question was but it was quite a different question to yours though still a synchronicity since I have thought about both.

The poem shown in the opening post is mine, written many years ago in a period of pretty low spirit, high anxiety . I was compelled to dig deep for ideas and inspirations in order to remain afloat. Rather sadly, it has occurred to me back then that "worries" would persist as long as "I" exist . The "worries" stealthily define "me", or put another way, "I" would not be "me" without "my worries" . "I" have to disappear before the worries would give up. Of course I could muscle up some effort to become a different person, but then I'd most likely end up trading old worries for new ones .

I like the poem

Like some incurable disease, anxiety may not be completely eradicated . The best one can do is learn to live with it , somehow find some way to alleviate the symptoms?

One tends to become anxious when faced with problems and challenges which appear to be beyond one's own ability. So a practical and expedient way to deal with it would be to search for inspirations and ideas which can boost confidence and morale, hopefully change attitude and open up new perspectives/opportunities . In this sense, the Yi's response to my query is quite spot on: "Get inspired" is the medicine for anxiety .

I suffered greatly with anxiety and panic attacks when I was young but I don't now so I don't think it's always a case of being sentenced to it for life. I may be prone to it but it's not dominating me.

I heard this the other day on the radio and it made me cry because the mind can be cruel and so many people suffer in different ways.