Which “V” do you choose? (Three A’s to happiness in a storm.)
Posted on May 15, 2015 by Bernie Jacobs, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
Tips on how to be happy in the midst of chaos.
While I was at my hairstyalist the other day, she got a phone call to say her four-year-old daughter had had a fit while at school. I heard her making a few more anxious phone calls, and then she returned to breezily finish off my hair. I was amazed at her equanimity under what I imagined must be such stressful circumstances! I asked how she managed to be not just calm, but cheerful, under these circumstances.
She replied that her daughter was born with fontanels that were fused at birth, and which caused her brain to be under pressure. They’d had to be surgically broken open as a young baby and the result was that she has since suffered from occasional fits. My hairdresser said she was able to be calm because she had such an amazing support system in place, which worked like an oiled machine when it was needed. She’d cancelled her next two clients – but knew her child was already at the doctor who knew her condition well, her daddy was with her, and so was her granny, and she herself would be heading over as soon as she finished with me. But she knew her daughter was feeling safe and cared for.
Wow!
A few things occurred to me..
Some of us carry heavy burdens in Life, and we can either buckle as Victims or else rise in Victory, as she was doing. She wasn’t fighting her circumstances, or bewailing her lot in Life. She had made peace with her situation through total acceptance of it, and this had made her balanced and strong. From this sure-footed position she had assessed what was needed in order to be highly functional and efficient, and taken the best actions she could to provide the best solution to the problem. She had been as proactive as she could be. This allowed her to feel absolutely calm in the midst of what many of us would find to be very emotionally disturbing circumstances.
It brought home to me the power of
• Accepting circumstances we cannot change,
• Applying our minds to find solutions from a point of calm – and then taking
• Action to implement the best solutions to our problems.
How amazing to be happy in the middle of a storm! To choose Victory instead of Victim.
