![\"Coping](\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/store\/media\/products\/Coping-with-Chaos.gif\")
<\/a>Excerpted from Coping with Chaos<\/a>\nBy Ester R.A. Leutenberg and John J. Liptak, EdD<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Definition of chaos: a state of utter confusion – Complete disorder – a jumble.<\/p>\n
One thing that all people can count on in the twenty-first century is living with chaos. Chaos refers to a state of confusion in your life, the experience of random or unpredictable occurrences, and\/or a lack of order to your daily life, space and belongings. Chaos can be seen in the many changes in the workplace, cell phones ringing and people constantly beset with interruptions, the barrage of new information flooding into your brain, thousands of choices, new and improved product ideas, new technologies that arrive daily, and new family structures. Often a family member volunteers or is forced to take on a new role such as caregiving. These are just a few of the many ways people are experiencing increased chaos in their lives which leaves them feeling irritated, frustrated, exhausted, angry, overwhelmed and\/or confused.<\/p>\n
Many people are interested in returning to the days when life was simpler, calmer, more controllable and more predictable. People want their lives to be full of events, people, and things they can predict and count on. Instead, they feel like they are losing their sense of purpose, control and predictability, and the result of these feelings is a sense of exasperation and weariness.<\/p>\n
Faced with many choices, loads of information at everyone\u2019s fingertips, and complex technological systems, people seek to establish order and control in their chaotic lives. More than ever before, it is important to understand chaos and attempt to find patterns in the chaos.<\/p>\n
This can be seen throughout history: <\/strong><\/p>\n People often ask, \u201cWhy worry about chaos\u2026there\u2019s nothing you can do about it?\u201d The fact is that people can control the chaos in their lives. It can be quite liberating to realize that chaos, although unsettling, need not be as frustrating as people believe. They can learn to define patterns of chaos and redirect their energies and abilities.<\/p>\n The Chaos Theory<\/a> is one of the best theories for dealing with the chaos in the lives of people. This Chaos Theory was developed in the 1970s when James Gleick and Edward Lorenz found that small changes and fateful events set off patterns that could affect everything in their surroundings. They referred to this as the \u201cbutterfly effect\u201d when they observed that a butterfly flapping its wings in China could affect weather patterns in Europe.<\/p>\n Therefore, even though chaos finds its way into the lives of every person, it is critical that people find ways to effectively cope with and overcome the chaos. The Chaos Theory suggests that there is no chaos; rather, there is a pattern and underlying order that can be defined by observing it with the right lens.<\/p>\n There are several ways to embrace and manage chaos:<\/strong><\/p>\n All people at some point will experience chaos that will come from a wide variety of sources and can cause people to feel frustrated, stressed out and weary. Most people see this chaos as a symptom of the twenty-first century and feel that there is nothing they can do about it. In reality, chaos can be seen for what it is. People can do something about it and control it in their own lives.<\/p>\n The following worksheets will help your clients begin the process of controlling the chaos in their lives. Try them first yourself so you can guide participants through the process.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download these worksheets.<\/p>\n Chaos and Confusion Excerpted from Coping with Chaos By Ester R.A. Leutenberg and John J. Liptak, EdD Definition of chaos: a state of utter confusion – Complete disorder – a jumble. One thing that all people can count on in the twenty-first century is living with chaos. Chaos refers to a state of confusion in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,4,348],"tags":[614,613],"class_list":["post-3083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-book-excerpts","category-exercises","tag-chaos","tag-coping-with-chaos"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
A New Way of Looking at Chaos<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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