Taking Steps to Block Out the Noise
I can’t be everything to everybody and I can’t/won’t make everybody happy.
It’s easy to get caught up in the chaos of life. Much of it is legitimate, to be sure. Family obligations, job requirements and the time we choose to devote to friends and personal interests should occupy the top tier of life. Those choices are the ones we make to create the happy world we want for ourselves.
Funny thing is, those aspects of living tend to be the easiest ones to control — probably because we want to. We are willing to put in the extra effort when needed to maintain a copacetic (always wanted to use that word) life.
Much of the frustration of life comes from sources beyond the perimeter of family life, career efforts, friends and personal interests. Those are the areas that create the most annoyance, usually because, like monsters of the night, they jump out at the most inopportune times in life.
Have you ever noticed how life seems to go along rather smoothly for a time and then, Wham!, out of nowhere you find yourself overwhelmed by the upheaval of world politics, the petty complaints of minor, toxic players in your daily life or some other rag-tag nonsense that arrives unbidden and disrupts your peace of mind?
How do you walk away? Or, at least, step back to a secure vantage point where you can gaze on a situation with an objective eye and not go into meltdown mode?
I ask the question, not because I’m about to offer the wisdom of Solomon on how to cope with life’s minor and not-so-minor annoyances. No, I ask the question because I really want to learn some coping strategies from those who have learned something from the school of hard knocks.
Making the best of bad situations.
One of my personal favorite coping mechanisms is (the coward’s way out) avoidance. If I can side-step toxic people and stressful situations, I’m all in favor of that. Sometimes that actually works. If I can avoid someone or something long enough, the dynamics may change and the poisonous situation may be diffused. Anyone who is trying to “fix me” in any way, shape or form, gets a wide berth in my life.
A more forceful option is the direct confrontation. I will go this route when all my bobbing and weaving to avoid an issue proves fruitless. Sometimes this works — sometimes it escalates the issues to mega proportions. I only recommend this option for times when I am well prepared to do battle.
Sometimes, the only solution is, to coin a phrase from a former co-worker, “Put your helmet on and keep your head down.”
Sometimes I just have to “suck it up, buttercup.” This applies to anything and everything totally beyond my control. When I get to this stage in my brain, I avoid news broadcasts, heated political discussions (with both the clueless and those in the know), and anything having to do with the health and aging process of myself and those around me.
Blocking out the noise and chaos of life can be a full time job. Or, it can be an opportunity to step back and regroup. For now, I think I need to step back and run my own little world on my own terms.
I need to write whatever wants to come out of me. I need to putter in my kitchen and try some of those new recipes I’ve been collecting. I need some fresh air walks and mindless binge-watching. I need my world without the b***-s***.
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