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The tide comes in and the tide flows out.
This happens twice a day; not quite like clock work, but as close to it as possible without a human hand guiding it. To be honest it’s better this way.
So too do emotions. And the confusions that flow with them. Sometimes you find yourself completely assured and reassured by what you feel, and then there are other times when you really don’t know; let alone know why.
The other day I found myself in a situation where I should’ve been calm but I wasn’t really. I didn’t know why. I wasn’t sure what was feeding all of this. I had everything that I needed. It was all right there. But yet I still had this “thing”; this feeling.
I doubt I was the only one in the world feeling this way. I doubt that I was the only person in the world who felt this confusion.
Viktor Frankl said “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
I like to think about this wise saying if I’m unsure about the origins of an emotion or feeling coursing through my body. It’s especially useful when deciding what my next action should be.
For example the other day when I really had no idea what it was that was making me feel unsettled. There were some possibilities, as there always are, but they all seemed to be way too far away in the future to be of any real interest.
The feeling that I was having was a result of some sort of thought stimulus that I was having, albeit an unknown one. The response I was giving to this uncertainty was making me feel crap. I needed to look into the space between in order to give myself some well needed clarity.
And it was in this space I found a moment of peace. It was just enough time to take stock of where I was, and what I was doing. But it did the trick. Soon after I felt the crappy feeling lifting.
This sort of thing happens in our professional and personal lives all the time. Next time it happens to you, give yourself some extra time to take stock.
So just wait for the tide to come back in. Give yourself some time and watch it flow in. Go on! You’ll be just fine.
Steve