Weathering the Storms

Most of us live our lives like a big oak tree where our roots have been set deep in the ground for years. This isn’t always a bad thing because it gives us comfort and provides us with a feeling of safety and contentment. I’d much rather be an oak tree when a storm hits than a sapling that’s still discovering itself. But what happens when something comes along and shakes our branches- will we fall if we give up our deep rooted opinions and practices to try a new approach? Even as an oak with our deep-seated habits, we still get ruffled for sure! So how do we prepare ourselves to weather storms more easily? What do we do when it feels like nothing is going right and all the positive self talk in the world can’t fix things?

Why not try dividing the big problem up into more manageable chunks? Look to your friends and family for support. And oddly, what I find that works best for me and my friends is to make some progress on the chunks, then get away from it for a few minutes and stretch ourselves creatively or physically. Lose yourself in an EA Sports game on the Wii, take some crazy photographs and post them for us all to enjoy, tackle some zombies on Left4Dead or take your puppy for a walk! Whatever you enjoy doing, lose yourself in it for a while and let your right brain tackle the chunks. You’ll be amazed at how your perspective of the problem will change and the new ideas that will flow into your mind.

But to make this work, you have to be willing to let go of your deep-rooted ideas of how to tackle a problem. You have to be willing to let your creative side flourish in order to come up with a new approach. Give it a try. You’ll be amazed at how well you weather the storm!