Mitigating the Thought Tsunami

The Science of Emotion

We are always on our metaphorical way from one place to another, just like the character in Dr. Seuss’s, Oh The Places You’ll Go. There’s the great stuff– You’ll join the high fliers, soar to great heights, you’ll be best of the best, you will top all the rest.

But there’s also the bang-ups and hang-ups, the prickle-ly perches and unpleasant bumps, the weirdish wild space, the lurches and slumps, the waiting place and the lonely space.

And although we have no choice about going to these less desirable places, I was given an empowering scientific insight this past week that determines how long we stay.

I have Finn and his morning reading selection to thank.

Finn’s teacher told us we should be reading non-fiction because the text has more complicated words and that is what he will be getting tested on. I winced inside since Diary of a Wimpy Kid and anything by Roald Dahl is more up our alley.

But, in an effort to demonstrate my ability to follow directions and in the hopes that I am helping our collaborative reading effort, I agreed. My dad gave us a book a long time ago entitled The Way Things Work.

Personally, I am a big fan of them working all on their own without me knowing how, but given our assignment, I told Finn to pick any chapter he liked.

We embarked on the chapter called Waves.

It talks about the fact that waves are merely energy. They transfer from one form to another. The velocity, duration and intensity of the wind impacts the size, force and duration of the water through the energy form called a wave.

The metaphor came crashing over me like a tidal wave of realization.

Our thoughts and feelings are the wind.

They gather momentum, intensity and direction long before they hit the ‘water of our well-being’ It is in this gathering swirl of intensity that we have the choice to disarm.

It is most certainly NOT about turning the other way and choosing happiness or choosing positivity or choosing in any way to ignore, resist or deny the sadness, anger or pain.

This is a useless strategy, as it doesn’t actually disarm any of the destructive energy.

It just channels it in insidious ways we cannot immediately see.

To disarm the energy, we have to take it all the way in, feel it and then let it go.

People struggle with all different parts of this. Often, people that appear the most highly functioning have trouble with parts one or two. I personally, have struggled the most with part three.

Once I felt the pain, I’d begin analyzing it, mulling over its cause and projecting possible future outcomes. I’d gather up gale force winds around it. And then get spun around in my thought tsunami.

It’s not that understanding why something hurts isn’t important. It is.

But it’s easy to hang on too long and turn it over and over until it literally changes form and you end up analyzing something totally different that’s entirely of your own making.

Not anymore.

2017 is going to be about letting go.

Letting go of the lies I’ve unwittingly hidden behind to stay safe and virtually untouchable in my creative, successful advertising box. Lies like, no one will understand me. No one will care will what I have to say. No one will believe in me.

Not if I put my heart and spirit and wildish weird self out there. Not if I do what I believe I was put here to do.

These lies are absolutely true… if that’s what I believe.

So I am going to choose this year to believe I CAN DO IT. Whatever my ‘it’ may be. I mean why the hell not. We only get one life. At least this time around.