The Statue in the Middle of the Maelstrom.
I’ve always been impressed (and a little bit jealous) of people who could remain calm in the middle of a crisis. I’m sure you’ve seen them. It’s often someone who has a little mileage on their soul, though not necessarily a large number of years.
They usually acquire this skill as a result of many different experiences; very few of which were fun and enjoyable.
But they have learned to be calm during the presence of a storm.
As someone who grew up surrounded by chaos, it’s a skill I’ve had to learn and cultivate, and I’ve had a considerable amount of practice. The funny thing is that I’ve realized that I kind of like chaos.
I don’t like that bad things happen, but I love the lessening of restrictions that chaos brings, because when things get fluid, opportunities become more frequent.
But that’s really not stillness, that’s kind of a selfishness (I still have a long way to go).
The real stillness comes when you can be unaffected in your core by the events that are unfolding around you. Those people are the ones who I would like to emulate. They are able to be focused and calm because they need nothing from the events that are transpiring, and they also cannot be shaken in their core by them.
Which is an incredible place to be at in your soul.
And as I’ve watched those people, the still ones, I’ve seen that there are a few characteristics that seem to stand out in each of them; ones which I’m trying to emulate in my life.
Firstly, they are incredibly honest. They tell it like it is, or at least, the way that they see it. But interestingly, they seem to do this in a way that shows compassion to others, without diluting the truth.
They speak what they feel, while without holding judgment on all.
Secondly, they are aware of themselves at a level that astounds me. The further I go into understanding myself, the more it seems there is to unravel. So while I find out more about myself, I still struggle to understand the whole of me.
But the third aspect that’s different is the one that I think most of us struggle with more than anything else.
They have accepted themselves, and found peace in that.
Which isn’t yet one of my strengths, although I’ve been making some headway into that recently. Partly because I’ve been through some things that have pushed me into an acceptance of things I cannot change, and partly because I’ve been able to realize that many of the things I struggle against are similar to things that many other people struggle with.
So while my recipe might be different, the basic ingredients are the same.
Ultimately, those who are still in the moment of chaos are so because they have balanced compassion for others with an all encompassing acceptance of themselves.
Being honest, and seeing the world through clarity of calm, not a filter of desperate need, they are able to act from a deep wellspring of peace, of principle, and most of all, of power.
Because the person who needs nothing, can give everything whenever they choose to.
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings