We are creatures of comfort.
It is the familiar to which we cuddle up to, tight within its cloak of warmth, solace is found. Such is the security that our daily activities provide. So cozy and intimate are we with our rituals and routines that we are often reluctant to leave our shells and venture outside of ourselves. As life's path would have it, unforeseen obstacles and potholes await us along our way.
Snails and supermen, not a world of difference between the two, merely paint the cloak of comfort red and with a flapping motion breathe deeply and open your arms wide while holding it tightly.
Without a doubt, an integral and significant part of our psyche is built upon how we choose to meet the cold, challenging and untimely knots in our paths: the not wanteds, the not convenients, the not suitables and, ultimately, the NOT nows!
Childhood memories remind me of forgotten days. I recall my cloak of protection which followed me around: pretty much like a shadow, it was always there to protect me. Bad things always happened to others far from my reach. Adversity struck at a distance. Everything bad, happened in other families: all of the arguments, divorce, unemployment, fires, nasty court cases, car accidents, disease, and tragic deaths were all an arm’s length away. Bit by bit, however, my shield weakened and misfortune was drawn closer and closer to me. At first the bad stuff was just a distant story on television or in the news. Later as I grew older, however, it was as if someone had pulled the rug out from beneath me. Similar events befell my family within its most inner circle, striking deep: stifling, razor sharp and winded pain.
Please don’t get me wrong: I did not have a difficult childhood, quite the opposite. As a young and innocent child, I saw both my family and the world around me as pure perfection. Gradually the imperfections and the injustices unraveled before me, their tangled webs grasping and chocking me cold with fear.
There is a man that I would once do anything, absolutely anything, just to make sure that our paths would not cross, even at the cost of conceded negotiations at the gate. Just last week I had no choice but to meet him. Surprised was I to notice for a moment how painless it was: I could talk, laugh and enjoy my powerful presence.
I have changed. My journey has endowed me with new powers, while his have remained the same.
Challenges, trauma, grief and difficulties are not new to me. At times I’ve attacked like a lioness, at others gone deep into hiding like a mouse. What I have realized is that my struggles with life’s forces have shaped and strengthened me and for that I am grateful.
Times of crisis: times of growth.
Crisis is but a bump in our path. How we choose to meet it, now that is entirely in our hands. Breathe deeply, close your eyes and imagine the most creative and accurate call to action. There is an abundance of possibilities, close to infinity in number. It is quite possible that the obstacle is a blessing in disguise?