Stop The World I Want To Get Off...

“Some days, the Dragon wins.” 

—unknown

Are you peddling faster than ever and going nowhere? 

Every three weeks or so I have a string of days that overwhelm me.  It would be logical to assume that if there is a pattern to my life, I would learn to plan for and expect those weeks that feel like complete chaos.  Yet they sneak up on me every time. 

I diligently bring myself back down to earth each time and remind myself to not get swept up in the story.  A story that is moving faster than my capacity to feel it.  And sometimes the most powerful thing I can do isn’t to change the story, but to pause long enough to see that I AM in the thick of it. 

There is a difference between being in your life and being consumed by it.  Being in your life means you are participating. Engaged. Present. Choosing.  Being consumed by it means you are reacting. Managing. Surviving. Keeping pace with something that always feels just slightly ahead of you.  Most of us live in that second space more often than we realize.

We wake up already behind.   We move from one obligation to the next.  We carry conversations in our heads long after they’ve ended.  We replay, anticipate, manage, adjust.  And at some point, the system becomes so normalized that we don’t even question it.  We just keep going.

But what if the desire to “get off” isn’t a problem to solve… What if it’s an invitation?

An invitation to pause.  Not because you’ve earned it, but because you need it.  An invitation to notice.  Not what needs fixing, but what is already here.  An invitation to step out of the constant forward motion and return to the only place life is ever actually happening.  Now.

Last week I noted the statistic that 85% of everything we worry about never happens.  This begs the question…what is the 15% I SHOULD be worried about?  I don’t know the scientific answer, but my gut would go with the right here and now.  Today.  It is the only thing right in front of us that we can respond to or do anything about. 

Here is a paradox we rarely talk about.  We believe that if we stop, everything will fall apart.  But in truth, it is often the stopping that allows everything to come back together. 

Think about the last time you felt truly overwhelmed.  Not just busy, but full. Mentally. Emotionally. Energetically.  What did you want in that moment? Not a better plan. Not more information. Not another strategy.  You wanted space.

Space to breathe.

Space to feel.

Space to not have to be anyone for a moment.

That’s what “getting off the ride” really is.  It’s not leaving your life.  It’s leaving the pressure you’ve been carrying within it.

There’s a moment in every storm, literal or metaphorical, where the wind is still moving, the rain is still falling, but something inside you softens.  You stop fighting it.  You stop trying to outrun it.  You just… stand in it.  And in that moment, something shifts.  Not outside of you.  Inside.  This is where your power lives.

Not in controlling the pace of the world.  Not in managing every outcome.  But in your ability to step back and remember that I am not the storm.  I am the one experiencing it.  This is not failure or passive resignation.   This is awareness.  And awareness is what gives you choice.

Because from that place, you can respond instead of reacting. You can choose instead of complying. You can move forward, not because you must, but because you are ready.  Don’t dismiss it.  Don’t push it away.  Listen.  Because it’s not asking you to leave your life.  It’s asking you to come back to yourself.

So, the next time life rises up and you feel like the world needs to stop so you can get off…remember that some days it is okay to let the Dragon win. 

And maybe… just maybe…

You don’t need the world to stop at all.  You just need to pause long enough to remember that you were never meant to keep up with it in the first place.

I heard a great quote in my writing group today, “Don’t push the river, it flows by itself.”  Life is not something we can control.  When we let life come to us, when we become aware of what is being presented and take time to understand how we want to respond, it is easier to understand that life is never really ours to control anyway.  All it needs is our participation and for us to make the next right choice. And to trust the process. 

Much love,

Lisa

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Lisa Hamil is a founding member and host for The SOS Collective, an online international women’s recovery and support group.  However, this blog and any classes or coaching offered by Lisa Hamil LLC are separate from and not affiliated in any way with The SOS Collective.