Tidal Waves, Fires, and Letting Go
Amy Hart
Have you ever felt like this little sail boat? You’re doing your best to get ahead of that crushing work load, but alas that gigantic wave crashed … ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!
What do YOU do when you just can’t keep up? Do you fight? Anybody who has experienced the panic of swimming against a strong beach current as you’re being dragged away from shore knows how impossible fighting is. It just wears you out, depletes what little energy you have left.
Why do so many people feel like that sail boat at work? One factor is those pesky unexpected fires you MUST put out that keep interrupting your best laid plans. Some of us put on our hero hats and go it alone for so long, that we catch on fire!
How are we supposed to ever address those important but not urgent things (“Quad II” for you Stephen Covey fans) like PLANNING or GOALS (relaxing a minute to de-stress? Ha!) when we are constantly putting out fires?
Borrowing from Medicine, we can glimpse one answer. Put more time into “preventive medicine” (planning, improving processes, taking care of your own well-being) instead of putting most resources into “illness” – those neglected problems or inefficiencies that slowly burn, usually avoided, until they break out into an all-out fire/emergency.
Why is it so difficult to put more focus on “preventive medicine,” on addressing important but not urgent issues, instead of randomly REACTING to smoldering fires?
Perhaps because it means we must let go – of our illusory control, of being an adrenaline junkie, of pretending we are indispensable. Because it requires we stop fighting the riptide current of reality, and choose to focus on that over which we DO have some control, even if for just a few moments at a time.
It can be quite simple. Last week I let go. I looked at the chaos that was my office, and slowly, methodically pored through, threw away, cleaned out, and put what was left into order. It took discipline to steal those moments, to focus on what I’d avoided because I was “too busy.” But how much energy has been freed up (I can find things!) and how empowered I feel.
There are some things we have control over, that are truly important but not urgent. Things, tasks, or people that ground us, energize us, make everything else work better. What are those for you?
Stop. Breathe. Let go. Quit fighting. What feeds your spirit, gives you energy, strengthens your heart, clears your mind? Steal a few moments and FOCUS there.