Naming

Genesis 2:19-20 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

Anxiety is almost epidemic in this country. Have you noticed it! Do you feel it?

Well, there is a pill for it. That is what we do with diseases, isn’t it! We throw pills at diseases. And since we have labeled the feelings we have as “anxiety” then it must be cured.

But what if we changed the label to something like “a supercharged moment that is giving you resources to accomplish the task at hand.” ASMTIGYRTATTAH. Well, that won’t work an advertisements, will it. It sounds like a new scientific name for a pill, doesn’t it!

Well, the reality is that anxiety looks the same in the body and brain as the fight-flight response. When your body is suddenly ready to save your life, it knows how to gather everything available to accomplish the saving of the self. Every bit of energy is focused on running away from the oncoming car.

And that is what has happened when we feel anxious. The problem with anxiety is that there is no actual threat that we face in that moment. The threat is in our minds, not in our moment.

And then we often cascade into thoughts of self-blaming and self-berating. We beat ourselves up. “We should be able to handle this like everyone else.” “I must be really weak.” “I’m a failure.” And this negative self-talk makes us feel even more anxious. It increases our fight-flight response.

But what if we labeled what we now call anxiety ASMTIGYRTATTAH. (Well, not literally. Who could remember it!) Maybe we tell ourselves, “My body is giving me the energy to push through this moment. I can handle this. This won’t kill me.” We change the name we are giving the feeling to a positive label.

The reality is that when we change the name of the event we change our body’s reaction to the event. Instead of cascading upward in anxiety, we begin to down regulate our brain. When we view the feelings we used to call anxiety, with all its negative connotations, as something positive, our brain and body change in relationship to our thinking.

Anxiety is a supercharged boost of energy that can be harvested for the moment at hand. And since there is no car careening in your direction, you can move in a more positive and purposeful manner going forward.

The reality is that anxious feelings, when not escalated through negative self-talk, usually last only a few moments. They pass, and the body’s reaction to the thoughts soon dissipate. In a matter of minutes the perceived crisis has passed.

Adam named the animals. He was given a task that only the LORD had done prior to this moment. The LORD had named Day & Night, Land and Sea, Sun & Moon. Now Adam is stepping into the role of ruling and subduing to which he was assigned.

We can, as Adam’s heirs, name the events in our lives. We can change our present and future by naming things in a way that lines up with reality rather than unsubstantiated fear.