He Could Drown in a Glass
My grandmother use to say of people who allowed very little stuff to overwhelm them: "That one could drown in a glass of water". How may of us know people like that who allow little tasks and little incidents in their lives to send them over the edge. People who become dysfunctional or angry the minute one thing goes wrong. It is like drowning in a glass of water or like watching a person drown in a shallow area of a lake and not being able to convince them to stand up. So many times we allow the most trivial things to get to us and make us feel as though the world has gone wrong. So often times we allow the little things that happen send us into a spin. Not me. I am not one to drown in a glass of water, oh no,, not I. I need a little more water to drown, become angry and disenchanted. I for one need something like the computer system to go down or my phone to lose all the battery power when I need to call my daughter at the Target where she is in some isle somewhere where I cannot see her. I don't drown unless there is a little over a gallon of water in my surroundings. The reality is that I have found myself "drowning in a glass of water". I have allowed myself to become upset or angry for some trivial thing that has happened like not being able to find my car key now that I am about twenty minutes off my schedule to make it to the dinner party. Or when I cannot find my slip on shoes in the closet where I thought they were and I need to get to the movie theater.
Drowning in a glass of water is when we allow little things to bring us down or when we allow small incidents to anger us or make us upset. When we look at a small project and we give up and not do the work because we just believe it to be overwhelming. We in essence "drown in a glass of water". So what do we need to do when those small occurrences happen to us? We should stop and become silent for a few seconds, maybe for a minute. We can take a few deep breaths and think. What is is about this situation that reminds me of something bigger from my past? By thinking about it we may come up with this answer or one that is similar. When I was a child my parents expected me to be a perfectionist like them. When I made a mistake I was reprimanded and it made me feel like I was not allowed to make even the smallest error. When I was in school my teacher got angry when my handwriting wasn't what he thought it should be. I have been allowing the little things in my life to get to me and make me feel small. I now have a perfectionist issue of my own and when little things go wrong I beat myself up for it. When I make a mistake I make it bigger in my head. I enlarge it because I become judgemental about it. If I cannot find my keys I think about how dumb I am for losing something. If I cannot find a pen I kick myself for not putting it back where I found it or for not having a pen holder on my desk. And when my coffee gets cold I get upset because I should have drank it faster but got distracted sweeping the floor or talking on the phone. Like many of you I too have the perfection syndrome and I too allow the little things to drown me unnecessarily.
Now and again we must check in. Check in with yourself before we start the day and decide that we are not going to sweat the small stuff and that we won't allow little things to overwhelm us. We have to make it purposeful that today we will not allow ourselves to be so tired out that some little incident will make us blow a gasket. In that plan we need to include some time out and some time for silence and even a short prayer or meditation. We must lay down and look up at the sky or lay on our rug at home and stare at the ceiling then close our eyes and imagine what life would be like if just for this day we would not worry about the small things or even the big things. I have learned my beautiful beloved friends and family that sweating the small stuff is not going to help me overcome what is going on in my life that is meaningful and needs more attention. I have learned that making the bed in the guest bedroom where my daughter slept last night is not a priority and it is only me making a big deal out of nothing, something that does not need my attention or my energy. I have been learning that the health issues on my body are a symbol of what happens when everything gets interpreted as big and important and valuable.
Where in your life are you drowning in a glass of water? Is it someone at work who keeps saying stupid stuff that irritates you? Is it your mom when she calls and asks you when you are going to get a job? Is it the way that your husband places the toilet roll onto the dispenser? Is it the way your wife takes so long to put on her makeup? What little things bug you? What is it that allows you to go to a place of feeling like you cannot breath and as if you are underwater? I leave you with these simple questions and my invitation as I call it is to answer them carefully and then write your mantra about how you are not going to allow yourself to drown over some stuff that is meaningless.
Love and Light to all,
Coach Elliott
Drowning in a glass of water is when we allow little things to bring us down or when we allow small incidents to anger us or make us upset. When we look at a small project and we give up and not do the work because we just believe it to be overwhelming. We in essence "drown in a glass of water". So what do we need to do when those small occurrences happen to us? We should stop and become silent for a few seconds, maybe for a minute. We can take a few deep breaths and think. What is is about this situation that reminds me of something bigger from my past? By thinking about it we may come up with this answer or one that is similar. When I was a child my parents expected me to be a perfectionist like them. When I made a mistake I was reprimanded and it made me feel like I was not allowed to make even the smallest error. When I was in school my teacher got angry when my handwriting wasn't what he thought it should be. I have been allowing the little things in my life to get to me and make me feel small. I now have a perfectionist issue of my own and when little things go wrong I beat myself up for it. When I make a mistake I make it bigger in my head. I enlarge it because I become judgemental about it. If I cannot find my keys I think about how dumb I am for losing something. If I cannot find a pen I kick myself for not putting it back where I found it or for not having a pen holder on my desk. And when my coffee gets cold I get upset because I should have drank it faster but got distracted sweeping the floor or talking on the phone. Like many of you I too have the perfection syndrome and I too allow the little things to drown me unnecessarily.
Now and again we must check in. Check in with yourself before we start the day and decide that we are not going to sweat the small stuff and that we won't allow little things to overwhelm us. We have to make it purposeful that today we will not allow ourselves to be so tired out that some little incident will make us blow a gasket. In that plan we need to include some time out and some time for silence and even a short prayer or meditation. We must lay down and look up at the sky or lay on our rug at home and stare at the ceiling then close our eyes and imagine what life would be like if just for this day we would not worry about the small things or even the big things. I have learned my beautiful beloved friends and family that sweating the small stuff is not going to help me overcome what is going on in my life that is meaningful and needs more attention. I have learned that making the bed in the guest bedroom where my daughter slept last night is not a priority and it is only me making a big deal out of nothing, something that does not need my attention or my energy. I have been learning that the health issues on my body are a symbol of what happens when everything gets interpreted as big and important and valuable.
Where in your life are you drowning in a glass of water? Is it someone at work who keeps saying stupid stuff that irritates you? Is it your mom when she calls and asks you when you are going to get a job? Is it the way that your husband places the toilet roll onto the dispenser? Is it the way your wife takes so long to put on her makeup? What little things bug you? What is it that allows you to go to a place of feeling like you cannot breath and as if you are underwater? I leave you with these simple questions and my invitation as I call it is to answer them carefully and then write your mantra about how you are not going to allow yourself to drown over some stuff that is meaningless.
Love and Light to all,
Coach Elliott
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