Letting the Calm Become the Power – overcoming our fears

Do you remember when you first learned how to swim? Or at least, you have watched someone take their first swimming lesson. There was that beginning fear or panic of being in the water. There was that feeling of helplessness and being in uncharted territory…the body tensed up, the arms became rigid, and fear took over. Then the arms started flailing and thrashing in the water as panic swept over our minds that we were certain that we would drown. Pure horror and absolute fear engulfed our very fiber and our soul. Death was imminent.

Ahhhhh….but then something magical happened. We learned the big secret! By being “calm” and motionless we could be in control.

We learned that by lying on our backs and taking deep breaths and calming our bodies down to a still, we could float effortlessly on the water. Now we were floating on our backs in the water and using hardly any energy at all. We did not even really need to do anything else but relax.

It is this absence of fear and helplessness that makes it all possible to float. The “calm” becomes our power.

And this is my point for us to ponder on...

If we find ourselves in a desperate situation, in a new situation, an uncharted territory in life…Maybe if we take some deep breaths, take a long walk, calm our bodies and our minds down…then maybe we can learn to feel that comfort zone of this new challenge in life that is presented to us. Perhaps we can let the calm allow us to think of a way to resolve our present issues instead of letting the panic set in and start to flail and thrash in the water.

I am not suggesting that a walk and some deep breaths will make everything horrible go away, by no means. But I would like to suggest is that perhaps if life is throwing some punches…that we reflect back to when you first learned to swim or perhaps riding a bicycle for the very first time. It was frightening at first… but once you “stuck with it” and once you relaxed, calmed your nerves down a bit…you did it! You learned the basics. You learned how to overcome the challenge. In fact, you even got better at it.

So with this in mind… when the economy continues to challenge us, when we don’t get that job or perhaps lose one, or whatever the challenge may be…remember to take some deep breaths, not to panic, and find your calm. You will find the answer.

Hang in there and keep moving forward. If another person can do it…why can’t you?

You can do this!