I think we can all agree that sometimes the world feels pretty bonkers. Whether it’s something huge and overwhelming like a natural disaster (donate, donate, donate!), or something small but intensely personal like a rejection (thanks, literary magazines!), it’s easy to get overwhelmed. So today, I thought we’d talk a little bit about how to deal with things when they get to just be too much.
When things are dragging you down – and for me, those things currently range from big things like worrying about the recovery efforts in my hometown to smaller things like fretting about work, my absentee future husband, and the preposterousness of bathing suits* – you can react in a number of ways. You can throw a fit, throw a punch, wail, moan, eat, not eat, cry, sing, dance, smooch, sleep. All those things are totally legit. But today let’s focus on three specific ways you can react to rough stuff: serenity, courage, and wisdom.
Some of you will no doubt recognize that I’ve cribbed the message of this post from The Serenity Prayer. According to our good friends over at Wikipedia, the original probably went something like this:
Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other.
But the more well-known version is:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can change, And wisdom to know the difference.
So simple, so smart… and so difficult. I mean, let’s take my body, just as an example (you can use your own body). There are certainly things I cannot change about my body. I can’t make myself taller. I can’t make myself shorter without a heck of a lot of effort (and, likely, pain). I also believe that I can’t drastically change my shape. What I can do is be at peace with these things. I can learn to accept that I am short and fat, and hopefully acceptance will eventually lead to love.
Courage! That’s a fun one. I believe that I can change the health of my body, that I can make it stronger, that I can make it endure. It takes courage to make these changes – courage to walk into a gym, to pick up a weight, to see a professional, to ask for help. Stepping out of your comfort zone can be terrifying, but it can also be exhilarating.
And finally we come to the hardest part: wisdom. Consider (as we have discussed here many times) that we are constantly bombarded with messages that we can permanently make our bodies smaller, if we only work hard enough – and spend enough money, despite loads of evidence to the contrary. (Caveat: You can choose to believe that if you like, but I don’t.) It can be nearly impossible to not believe these promises of a “better” body, which of course also comes with a “better” life. It takes curiosity and courage to confront and then, if you so choose, renounce those beliefs. It takes a whole heaping helping of wisdom to learn and accept what is and isn’t possible – if only for your own body (because, let’s face it, that’s the only body you have control over).
So tell me, how do you deal with all that stuff that overwhelms your life? (“Chocolate” is a perfectly acceptable answer.) Share in the comments!
*Seriously, can someone explain to me why lap swimsuits almost all have those giant keyhole cut-outs in the back?! I really don’t think I’ll swim faster with my back hanging out.
