How To Be Calm In The Face Of A Storm
We all have our buttons. When they are pressed we jump, have a knee-jerk reaction and more often than not end up reacting instead of responding.
Being equanimous and unfettered in the face of any storm is a superpower.
Your wisdom and strength are measured by your level of calm. To not overreact and take situations or interactions personally does not come naturally to most of us.
The only way to remain unfettered in any circumstance is to keep your thoughts and heart clean, and at peace. You will rarely feel a sense of loss of self-expression or power, which is what causes our equilibrium to get disturbed if you do this.
It is the mind that one needs to silence and overcome skillfully with the art of mindfulness in the face of unforeseen trials. If you don’t maintain calm, then you will be faced with frustration, pain, anger, and anxiety on a daily basis.
The day will continue to send a barrage of challenges your way, the only way you can combat daily stresses is by reminding yourself at regular intervals to regroup and collect yourself. An even more powerful way to not only re-establish calm but to sustain equanimity is by employing affirmations.
Below is a set of reminders/ affirmations that you should say to yourself. You can add or subtract from this list. We become the sum of the stories and words that we use, if you begin to use language as a declaration and not as the description you will see the power of your words.
Each time the bell rings you will be reminded to pause and automatically forced to zoom out of whatever you are doing, to take stock and reinforce the core daily actions and rituals we know we need to engage in to remain calm and in control from the inside out.
Choose to practice one at a time till they become deeply ingrained in your mind. Apply these daily multiple times a day.
1. You are not the events that happened in your life, you have a choice each moment to choose who you want to be. Serenity sets in when you breathe into the moment and tell your self that- “I choose to not allow anyone or anything to have power over my thoughts.”
2. Let go of the expectations and begin to appreciate what you have here and now. Tell your self- “I am enough, it is enough right now. Everything is enough.” It is easier said than done but practicing this will help you value the present moment. Do this without adding the burden of yesterday and tomorrow.
3. Being calm does not imply that there will be an absence of storms; it means that you will maintain your cool in the chaos. Say to yourself- “I am unperturbed, unfettered, equanimity is me.”
4. Usually whatever difficulty you are facing is not the issue, it is the mammoth rumination and over-analyzing you engage in. Tell yourself each time you feel your energy getting disturbed- “I will not waste my energy, I value my energy, I will not over-think. My energy is valuable.” Be discerning with your energy.
5. Remember, you alone get to choose what matters and what doesn’t. The meaning of everything in your life has precisely the meaning you give it. So what you focus on magnifies. In the face of drama, tell your self consciously- “ I will not get sucked into petty drama, I am above this, we are all above this.”
There is no way to fast forward life or inject wisdom, but what you can do is hack your mind. It is after all just a meaning-making machine. A machine which you can’t control but can somewhat harness. Take that power in your hands. It’s there for the taking.
