Dealing with the "Chop"

I shall never forget the first time I swam in open water, in Lake Michigan. The water was cold and choppy. I was being tossed around like a rag doll. Although I could stand up at any moment I, found myself struggling against the current trying to remain calm and relaxed. The more I struggled the more anxious I became. As I began to hyperventilate I found myself swallowing more water than I was I taking in air. In those extremely nerve racking moments, that seems to last an eternity, my survival was in jeopardy!!  I began to pray: "Please Lord, don't let me drown and be swept away to Davy Jones' locker!!"

Thank God my prayers were answered !!! I am alive to tell the story!!

Life can get very choppy and turbulent. Non stop pressures and demands can make you feel confused and overwhelmed. Unable to tell up from down, we can get swept away in the tumultuous emotions of  the daily rat race. Profoundly chaotic emotions like fear, sadness, and anger, have a way of taking over our minds driving us into the depths of despair and alienation.

I am learning how to deal with the "Chop" of life. When in I find myself in troubling currents, I stop and let go of over struggling. I sense what you are thinking, "Are you freaking kidding, ME!! Stop struggling?!! Really?!! Are your serious??" "Nonsense!" "I have to keep pushing and striving, life is about struggle and sacrifice" "The harder I work and struggle the more I will obtain."

I feel you!! I hear you!! But let me ask you; "How is that working for you?"

The idea of unending struggle and heroic fight is deep within our psychic DNA. The truth is that the "Chop" of life can be like quicksand, Chinese finger trap, or a deep hole. The more you struggle, fight and dig , the more you sink, become stuck, and get in over your head unable to climb out.

Am I saying that we should never struggle and strive? Of course, not! Life is all about struggling and striving. Where I've gotten lost and bogged down, is when I think, that all there is to life is the "Chop."  

Yes, life is choppy and turbulent. Life does have moments of struggle where the future is uncertain and the results of striving seem fruitless. However, the tension filled "Chop" of life can be embraced and transcended.  The Psalmist writes: "Weeping may endure for a night but, joy comes in the morning." The question is: "What do you in the mean time when morning is a long way off , and you are in the "Chop" of life, being tossed back and forth by anger, sadness and fear right now?"

For me, I am learning to trust the Presence of the Divine within me and all around me. By staying in touch with myself I, experience the Presence who provides peace that surpasses all understanding. This empowers me to go with the flow.

When I was in Lake Michigan I had wetsuit that surround me, held me up, when I felt like I would sink. Once I trusted the buoyancy of being held and supported, I found myself floating on top of the water going with the flow of the current and swimming smarter not harder.

As I swam, supported from within and without I was able to acknowledge fear, anger, and sadness but still remain focused on experiencing gratitude, hope, and peace in spite of frustration and which transformed the "chop" into still waters. 

Peace & Blessings On Your Journey