Abhorrence
NEET
- Dec 24, 2023
- 3,348
The only thing worse than change, is sudden change.
If change is stressful, sudden change can be catastrophic.
If you, at this moment, are caught up in sudden and catastrophic changes in your life, exposed to major trauma, or experiencing major losses or reversals or setbacks from which you can anticipate no relief, then you may be undergoing a sudden overload of stress. And, if you are, then maybe it will help to know that certain things are likely to be going on inside you - things which, if you understand them, may help you control, if not the events themselves, at least your reaction to them.
First, I think that there are times in our lives when certain events can throw us into a tailspin. Sudden changes entirely beyond our span of control sweep over us like a tornado and there is nothing, but nothing, we can do to alter their course.
The stock market may crash and, with it, we lose our life savings. Our employer may go bankrupt and we are suddenly thrown out of work. Someone we thought loved us suddenly announces she is leaving us for someone else. Without warning our lives are turned upside down and backwards and we are, like a person swept into the funnel of an emotional tornado, sent tumbling, tossed and turned and every which way but loose.
It is, during these sudden overloads of stress, that we begin to grasp at solutions, at any solution that will give us some relief from our present circumstances. We need to regain some sense of control over what is happening. And it is then that the idea of suicide seems better than our present turmoil and sense of despair. Once a massive load of stress - as it frequently does - triggers a depressive episode and we begin to experience the symptoms of hopelessness and suicide, at least we know that through our own death we can at least come to a final outcome, we can get control of what is going to happen next.
@AccurateDud
But I want you to think about something for a moment. What if, despite how impossible things may seem right now and how guilty or angry or depressed you may feel, you are, in fact, not in control of these events.
What if, instead, certain things are just going to happen and neither you nor anyone else can do anything to stop them? What if, rather, you are simply going to have to ride this one out and let things happen the way they are going to happen?
The people in Alcoholic's Anonymous have a wonderful prayer that helps them stay sane and sober. Called the Serenity Prayer, it reads: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
Of all the phrases by which people live their lives, I can think of none that contains more good sense than this one. Because, within it, is the notion that there are things that happen to us in this life that, despite however much we would wish them different, they will not be different. And that we, if we are to survive, must come to accept those things as they are and to do so with grace and dignity.
So, if by chance you are undergoing a sudden overload of stress and are feeling confused and disoriented as to your purpose, your values, your beliefs, and your traditions, then maybe it is time to stand firm in the eye of the storm and accept that which you cannot change. From such a stance, you just may find that which you seek - a sense of serenity and peace.
@Tabula Rasa @akame @chochuum @PointOfNoReturn
If change is stressful, sudden change can be catastrophic.
If you, at this moment, are caught up in sudden and catastrophic changes in your life, exposed to major trauma, or experiencing major losses or reversals or setbacks from which you can anticipate no relief, then you may be undergoing a sudden overload of stress. And, if you are, then maybe it will help to know that certain things are likely to be going on inside you - things which, if you understand them, may help you control, if not the events themselves, at least your reaction to them.
First, I think that there are times in our lives when certain events can throw us into a tailspin. Sudden changes entirely beyond our span of control sweep over us like a tornado and there is nothing, but nothing, we can do to alter their course.
The stock market may crash and, with it, we lose our life savings. Our employer may go bankrupt and we are suddenly thrown out of work. Someone we thought loved us suddenly announces she is leaving us for someone else. Without warning our lives are turned upside down and backwards and we are, like a person swept into the funnel of an emotional tornado, sent tumbling, tossed and turned and every which way but loose.
It is, during these sudden overloads of stress, that we begin to grasp at solutions, at any solution that will give us some relief from our present circumstances. We need to regain some sense of control over what is happening. And it is then that the idea of suicide seems better than our present turmoil and sense of despair. Once a massive load of stress - as it frequently does - triggers a depressive episode and we begin to experience the symptoms of hopelessness and suicide, at least we know that through our own death we can at least come to a final outcome, we can get control of what is going to happen next.
But I want you to think about something for a moment. What if, despite how impossible things may seem right now and how guilty or angry or depressed you may feel, you are, in fact, not in control of these events.
What if, instead, certain things are just going to happen and neither you nor anyone else can do anything to stop them? What if, rather, you are simply going to have to ride this one out and let things happen the way they are going to happen?
The people in Alcoholic's Anonymous have a wonderful prayer that helps them stay sane and sober. Called the Serenity Prayer, it reads: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
Of all the phrases by which people live their lives, I can think of none that contains more good sense than this one. Because, within it, is the notion that there are things that happen to us in this life that, despite however much we would wish them different, they will not be different. And that we, if we are to survive, must come to accept those things as they are and to do so with grace and dignity.
So, if by chance you are undergoing a sudden overload of stress and are feeling confused and disoriented as to your purpose, your values, your beliefs, and your traditions, then maybe it is time to stand firm in the eye of the storm and accept that which you cannot change. From such a stance, you just may find that which you seek - a sense of serenity and peace.
@Tabula Rasa @akame @chochuum @PointOfNoReturn
