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Finding Your Life Preserver
Coping mechanisms are wired into us. Joy can be found via pain and fear with the help of acceptance and determination.
Bad things happen. Take a moment. Breathe deeply. Get a grip and deal with the situation.
I wonder sometimes if I should abandon this old-fashioned coping mechanism in lieu of conforming to society’s infatuation with pills. These days living life unmedicated is how I would imagine life on a different planet with an alien species, frustrating and unnerving.
We’re not always ready for the curve balls thrown at us. Nevertheless, I stand strong in my conviction that facing hardships head on with lucidity is the most rewarding alternative.
At times life is shifting so slowly that you don’t notice what’s happening until you wake up one day and realize the person you were has been gone for years. Other times change jumps out from the shadows and drops you to your knees in what feels like a slow-motion experience.
No matter which change presents itself, I always seem to fall slightly short of being prepared; I was only a Brownie, never a girl scout. Traumatic events have a way of bringing out the philosopher in me as I look for the best perspective to wear as a life preserver.
