Moment of crisis, moment of truth

Moments of crisis show you the world as it is, and offer you the opportunity to change.

Nothing feels as overwhelming as a moment of crisis. The solidity and certainty of the very ground beneath your feet might feel whipped away. Events can take on a life and a momentum all of their own, often entirely out of your control. The world and all that is in it might feel like a maelstrom, everything spinning around you in chaotic and unpredictable patterns. While you are in the midst of the crisis, it can feel like the worst thing in the world.

The good thing about moments of crisis is that they present choices.

The good thing about moments of crisis is that they show you the world as it is, and offer you the opportunity to go with the flow, or to change.

The best thing about moments of crisis is that they are moments. As with all moments, they will pass.

The world will be different again. A new balance will appear. New problems will arise. Or the same old ones.

What is at the heart

While you are in the midst of the crisis, you have a range of choices, even if you might feel powerless or as if your ability to cope or to act has been taken away from you. One particularly attractive choice might be to ignore the crisis entirely. This is not always advisable, but it is an option.

Alternatively, you might opt for the opportunity to recognise and act on what is at the heart of this moment of crisis. No matter how severe and how limiting a crisis might feel in the moment, there remain so many ways you can choose to deal with it (if you really don’t fancy the ignoring option).

You don’t have to find one solution for everything that is on your plate right now. You are in all likelihood coping better in this moment than you might admit to yourself. You just need to find some perspective and some balance. You need to breathe. You need to spend at least as long on the exhalation as the inhalation. You need to make decisions. You need to let go of baggage. You need to find some acceptance, some peace. You need to remember what you are doing all this for.

The best thing about moments of crisis is that they are moments.

As with all moments, they will pass.

After the storm, the world will be different again.

Will you be different?

IMAGES

• Stormy sea at night via Wikimedia Commons.
• George Bellows – Storm Sea (1913) via Wikimedia Commons.
• Early Morning After a Storm at Sea’ by Winslow Homer, 1900-1902 via Wikimedia Commons.