Okay, right, so not exactly joy, but there might be something said for crisis. When I hear that word, "crisis," I see red arrows and hear loud alarms clanging, warning me to run away. But I'm learning that perhaps, crisis is to be welcomed into our lives. Not a very popular opinion perhaps, but think about it: if things stay the same and nothing ever changes, how are we incentivized to make changes in our lives or grow? Where's the fire to get us up and moving?
Oh well, yes, it's true that there's a certain level of internal motivation...perhaps. But I suspect that can fall to a negligible level once a particular threshold of comfort has been reached. We like to be comfortable. *I* like to be comfortable. And oh, don't forget secure. But there can be tragedy in that seemingly safe, warm, snug little bed we're ensconced in; the tragedy of inertia.When everything's hunky dory and life is safely rolling along, why be bothered to stretch for something more? Well, there IS a reason to be and some do it, in fact, but many don't. Sometimes, it takes a full-on crisis to smack us out of our comfy little sleep.
So for me, I'm learning to welcome the crises; to ask what will be on the other side and what that will look like for me. I'm also learning that just rolling with it and being open to the opportunities that present themselves along the way is the key. Because if I'm quiet and pay attention, and resist the urge to go into full-blown freak mode every time something doesn't work out as I think it should, amazingly, the universe opens up and offers me a path.
Just so you know, I've not mastered this yet, but I'm trying, learning, and growing in the knowledge of this little secret, and have friends who are doing the same. It's very exciting to watch in their lives as seemingly difficult circumstances magically evolve into opportunities. Perhaps you're learning this as well. So tell me...how do you handle crisis?
It is by crisis that our race moves forward, by this the human race has survived. For this reason we have a certain element of risk takers that help move us forward. This is why we have base jumpers and evil kenevals ! But sometimes a small risk give a new path and so the risk is worth it , but often the risk once taken is no so bad as it seemed prior to moving forward. Personally I approach stress in my life as an observer i watch and think about which way it should flow then attempt to control the flow in a manner which suits me ! it doesn't always work :)
ReplyDeleteI have been reading a short book a dear friend across the sea shared with me, written by Anthony DeMello. It is called "Awareness," and in it he talks about letting go of negative emotions, and those certainly come up during a crisis. One of the things he calls you to do is self-observation - stepping out of the situation apart from the emotion and evaluating what's really going on. For me, doing this to let go of negative emotions, often over and over again, has been helpful.
ReplyDelete@Carole, it's a great book, isn't it? I think his call to introspection and self-observation is right on the mark. It's a skill to be developed, but one that certainly improves with practice.
ReplyDelete