Monday Musings Part Nineteen: It’s Okay to Have a Meltdown

It’s Okay to Have a Meltdown

While we’re on our life journey, it’s important to remember that we’re only human. And not a one of us is a saint (most probably). And, I’m sure that each of those known as saints had their crises of faith at one time or another. It’s okay to stumble from time to time, and even to have a full-blown meltdown. This is what it is to be human. This is how we (eventually) grow.

The important thing is not to move in and stay there. Don’t unpack your bags and get comfortable in your dark place. Let out your emotion. Cry it out if you need to. Then move on. Reset your focus and continue on your life’s journey.

Also, don’t confuse your path with your destination. Just because it’s stormy now doesn’t mean that you aren’t headed for sunshine. Everything that we experience—every single thing—is just for now. Just for the time being.

And, once the clouds are behind us, they’re behind us. Why would anyone want to go chasing the storm? If I’m going to chase anything, it might as well be rainbows. However, far better to simply allow it all to come and go. It’s just the scenery of life.

The essential thing is that we keep taking one step at a time on our journey. It’s when we wander off the path and get side-tracked by the scenery that we end up in great suffering. Either because we didn’t see the stinging nettles coming, or that we found roses, and now they’re dying off.

All things change. All things die. Including our suffering. It’s all here just for a while.

When on the journey, we want to keep half an eye on our goal, but only the half. Far more essential is to absorb the journey and the life-lessons with which it presents us. Most of our focus wants to stay on our current step and the step right in front of us.

Driving a car is a good analogy here. To steer, we need to watch a ways down the road while also keeping an eye on what’s right ahead. And, while we do glance into the rear-view mirror from time to time, if we were to get caught up in the reflection, we’d likely crash all too soon. A successful driver knows what’s behind as well as what’s in front and to the side. And still, the main focus is on what’s happening right now.

In the wise words of Zen:

‘Every day is a journey. And the journey itself is home.’

If you’ve missed my previous Monday Musings, you can find the links here: https://harmonykent.co.uk/category/monday-musings/ 🙂