DEALING WITH "CRISIS"

When you take one step towards Truth, Truth takes two steps towards you. Life is just happening. Events are just happening. They have no meaning, other than the meaning you give them. When you are afraid, angry, tense, nervous, agitated, controlling, ask yourself -- who or what am I making my higher power?


Assure the little children within you that you will not abandon them. Be kind to your soul. Do something spiritual for yourself every day. Be kind to your body. Eat regular meals. Sleep enough. Get daily exercise, even if it is only a long walk in the sunshine or rain.

When confronting a crisis, it is even more important to show up for yourself. Stay out of fantasy. Stay out of vagueness. Get all the facts. Ego prefers to jump into the cauldron. It's what ego likes best. Ego loves drama, even when drama hurts you. Slow down. Take small steps. Get all the facts. Get practical, expert advice when you need it. But do not run here and there, asking all your neighbors what you should do. Stay calm. Ask God. Wait for answers. Let something higher than your thoughts of lack, loss, fear, and limitation guide you.

Stay in the present moment. Take one small step at a time. I grew up in the snowbelt of New York State, so I went ice-skating a lot as a child. I often went alone in the woods, where the river overflowed into the fields and froze during the winter. In order to test the ice, I would take one very slow step at a time. I wasn't afraid, but I was cautious. Once I knew the ice was safe, I was free to skate with great joy in the icy air!

Often we make mistakes in the world because we have not been cautious enough, gotten all our facts, taken small steps, and listened to our inner voice. Often we listen to people who do not know more than we do. It is good to get practical advice from someone who really does know more than you, so you can make good decisions. Especially when confronting a crisis, get your facts. Slow down.

I sometimes tell this story in seminars. I was on a train in Italy, from the airport to Rome. I was reading a book about India that made me laugh.  Suddenly I noticed smoke on the train and a strange smell, maybe a chemical smell. All the people around me, some speaking English, began to react in fear. They wanted the train to stop, but it clearly wasn't stopping. They were afraid the smell was going to poison us. Or that the train would burn up! They were running around, looking out windows, in a panic.

I noticed what was happening, but I also knew there was nothing I could do. I had all my facts. For some reason, there was some smoke on the train and a strange odor, and the train was not stopping. So panic and fear were useless. It was Italy. Trains stopped when they stopped. So I just kept reading my book, laughing out loud sometimes, which no one could hear, since they were busy being afraid.

The train arrived safely at the next train station. But I learned that now no more trains were running to Rome. Another crisis! So I had to get out and find another way. Which I did, by bus.

In this instance, I was blessed with a calm mind. If we could meet every crisis in this way, we would be living in inner peace all the time.

p.s. the book I was reading was John Irving's Son of a Circus, which takes place in Bombay, India (now Mumbai, of course).