Tough Times happen to all of us
There comes a time in everybody’s life when things go wrong and things get tough. And man – can things go wrong! Sometimes it can be a sick child, or parent; sometimes it can be that you have lost your job. Or, it can be a messy divorce. Sometimes it is just a case of being completely exhausted – for whatever reason.
It really does not matter what the event is, the reaction of our bodies is exactly the same. I say bodies, because it is the BODY that goes to that space of fear. Fear is the emotion that rules the physical. Our bodies are hard-wired for that to occur – this is our flight-or-fight response, (read about fear vs Love) and is literally built-in. We cannot escape this, but we can manage this body-response.
Let me give you an example. Recently, I was on a plane from Cape Town to Johannesburg. At Cape Town airport, the weather did not seem so bad and, since I travel quite a lot, I was completely at ease. The pilot had barely taken off when an announcement was made by him that we were in for a bumpy ride and he asked us to stay in our seats and keep our seat belts fastened.
When things get tough – manage the body’s fear
Holy moly! What a ride. The aircraft was shuddering and at various intervals simply lost altitude as a result of severe air turbulence. At one stage the aircraft dipped so radically that a few people, who had neglected to fasten their seat belts, were simply lifted out of their seats with such force that their heads banged against the overhead compartments above. The passenger next to me had her little emergency bag ready, just in case the nausea overwhelmed her. Her husband (I assumed it was her husband) was shaking and his palms were sweaty. My body was in all-time fear response as well.
Thanks goodness I know how to meditate. I simply closed my eyes, stilled my racing mind and once my body was clam, I had a little chat to it. I told my body that it was in a bus on a very, very, bumpy road and that the bus’s shock absorbers were shot! I told it hat it was safe and everything would be okay.
My body immediately calmed down and, as a result, I was in control again.
We landed safely and on time! At touch-down, all the passengers applauded the pilots! We all breathed a sigh of relief.
The same action can be taken in any situation. When things go wrong, it is up to each one of us to actually DO everything we possibly can to change our situation. Once we have DONE everything we can, we simply have to trust that everything will be okay. If it is not okay – the event is not over! Our bodies will respond in fear, irrespective of the event.
A friend has a delightful fridge magnet – it says, “You see! Worrying does help. 99% of the things I worried about never happened!”
Manage your body’s fear. If you have lost your job and you have done everything in your power to remedy that; if you have updated your CV; if you have sent it to as many people as possible; if you have asked all your contacts to help you and you have clearly stated what you want, it is time to manage your body’s fear and let go and let Divine Purpose take over. I could do nothing about the flight, I did everything I possibly could in this situation, and then I let go – to whatever outcome.
Without fear, how can we know love?