Stay in the Eye of the Storm

I was at water aerobics the other day, and a nice lady, Sue, started to explain why she hadn’t been at class for a while.  She outlined what had been going on with her son and his new wife and how she can’t wait for things to “calm down and go back to normal.”

I empathized with her—but cautioned her about waiting for things to calm down and go back to normal. 

I don’t know what it is about certain people, but there are some people who live in a constant state of chaos.  They thrive on it.  Drama seems to either follow them or is stirred up by them.  Either way, when they blow into your life, they blow in like a hurricane.

Sue’s eyes widened and laughed.  Her life with her husband was very calm before her son and his wife moved back in.  Chaos seems to follow her daughter-in-law around, and since this young lady has attached herself to Sue’s family, Sue’s life has been chaotic as well.  

Yeah, when you’re surrounded by chaos that is out of your control — and you can't get away from it — the best thing to do is to put yourself in the eye of the storm (i.e., in the calm, quiet part of the hurricane) and let the chaos simply swirl around you.  Try not to let all the strong winds and craziness of others affect you.  It may be difficult but don’t step out of your calm circle and into the hurricane or you’ll get caught up in the storm and lose your balance.

She nodded and realized that same thing was happening at work.  There’s drama all around her there too.  She’s been working hard at keeping herself balanced there as well. 

All these things are good reasons for her to keep coming to water aerobics.  Being in “calmer waters” and exercising helps reduce stress and will make her feel better.

She agreed and added that she was feeling a lot better already — and class hadn’t even started yet.