It’s been a brutal year for me in terms of stress. Some of it
was outright loss, other parts happy but pushing me over the edge of tolerance,
for stress too, which is a loss of calm.
Whatever is happening, I keep up the mantra, “This too shall pass!”
Life sometimes sideswipes us with occasions for rejoicing or
unspeakable tragedy, but hard times run in cycles. It’s important to find ways
of reminding ourselves of this rhythmic nature. Outward-facing periods of great
vigor and challenge are followed by periods of apparent stagnation. These
fallow times can feel like the pits of despair when nothing seems to be
changing (except for the worse) and no matter how hard we engage with the
problems in our lives, we seem to make no discernible progress. Winter is never going to end; all our senses
convince us of it. We are never going
to find “the one,” or sell that first story. And we’ve heard enough tales of
folks who actually never do find a partner or make a sale that we are sure we
belong in that group. As the days shorten and snow or rain turns into mud, we
become even more certain the sun will never return.
That’s when I need black belt survival tools. My mantra
(above) is one of them. Here are some others that work for me.
- Every day, I speak with someone who loves me.
- I try to do a daily act of kindness in a way that I will not be found out.
- I try to begin each day with trust and end it with gratitude. These can take whatever form seems good to me on that day.
The painting is by Karl Roux (1826–1894), public domain.
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