“Between the mountains, the waters will pass.”
Today I had an anxiety attack the size of Godzilla.
I guess because,
- My social security payments have been increased by 200%.
- Some guy has pushed my disabled mother in line at the bookstore.
- I got lower back pain.
- I got an unexpected debt from my father that I must pay to stop being bothered by the phone.
- I wrote to my father about the debt, and not only did he change the subject, but he started sending me smiling pictures from his vacation in Chauen, Morocco.
- And to top it all off, my Apple Watch has broken.
And I want to take this opportunity (yes, you read that right: opportunity) to make the most of my pain and turn it into an article so you can save it and read it when life hits you as hard as it has hit me today.
1. Calm down.
“The reason you are unhappy is because you keep thinking about what you don’t have, instead of thinking rather about what you do have at the moment.” — Anthony de Mello.
When life hits you hard, regain your center as soon as possible.
It’s no use, as Anthny de Mello says to think in a loop about all that life has just taken away from you. The best thing you can do is to relax and make a count of the things you have.
In my case,
- Health.
- Money saved.
- A mother who loves me and supports me in everything.
- A great community of readers that many of them I consider friends.
You have to relax because getting upset only makes you make more mistakes and get into more trouble.
Fear paralyzes. So after the shock that life gives you, invest as much time as you need to get back to your center as soon as possible and not aggravate the situation.
2. Assume the losses
“Men are more ready to return a wrong than a benefit, because gratitude is a burden and revenge a pleasure.” — Tacitus.
To seek blame is a mistake. Taking revenge is a mistake. Wasting time regretting is a mistake. Hating is a mistake.
I know it’s counterintuitive, but the best way to strike back is to be much happier and more successful than before. And that can only be achieved in one way: Letting go of the anger and rage.
You must take the losses and reinvent yourself; that’s the key.
As my grandfather always said, “When your boss pays you 5k, it’s because, thanks to you, he earns 50k”.
Moral of the story: don’t hate your boss. Accept that he will stop paying you 5k. Find the people who pay him 50k for your work, and skip the middleman 🙂
You are more powerful than you think; that’s why it’s not enough for them to hurt you financially but emotionally so that you don’t see your value and don’t become a problem for them.
3. Cut the losses
“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that clings to us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” — Hebrews 12:1
Don’t bleed more than you need to.
If life hits you financially, list expendable expenses and cancel them.
If life hits you emotionally, detach yourself from the person that makes you feel bad.
Remember that when someone leaves your life voluntarily, it is a cause for celebration because it takes space and time for another person who values your company to take their place.
Block her on all networks, and don’t spend the day stalking her accounts. And move on.
Remember: the less you access a thought or memory, the more you weaken it.
4. Don’t doubt; doubt weakens.
“Inter medium montium pertransibut aquae” — Latin saying.
The above phrase means between the mountains; the waters will pass.
And they do it because the waters do not doubt; they adapt to the mountains and go down, avoiding the rocks and forming a river reaching the sea.
You will do the same if you want to recover from the fatal blow that life gave you.
Doubting is like using the Google browser with 100 windows open: it always gets stuck.
Close all windows, and work on one (on the plan that will make you recover). And the performance of your computer will improve.
In the same way, don’t hesitate because hesitating is like having many windows open simultaneously with programs running in the background and saturating your brain (computer).
5. Make your disaster your message.
“All the things of this world are nothing but dust. Put them in a heap under your feet, and you will be closer to heaven.” — Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer
As Josemaría says, don’t forget that everything around you is temporary, you too, “dust you are, and to dust you shall return,” but that dust becomes part of the path that others will walk, and lies the key.
Look at the fire that ignited your life and dreams, and do something constructive with the ashes; as they say, “Make your disaster your message.”
Someone needs to hear that another human being went through the same thing they are going through so they don’t feel alone and know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
This is the purpose of this article.
There is light at the end of the tunnel, dear reader; even if you don’t see it today, there is.
A virtual hug
AG