Beautiful Meltdown
You know exactly what I mean by that phrase don't you? Nothing is wrong with you. Everything you're feeling is valid and justified. Each ache and pain is legitimate and raw. The world has invited you to a stacked talent show and upstaged every hard-won magic trick you've got in your tattered little book.
You're down. You're freaking OUT. None of your usual coping techniques seem to have any effect on your MACK truck of emotions that's freakishly accelerating toward unquestionable disaster. You can't seem to apply the breaks because there ARE NONE.
This is a Red Alert Freak Out. You could be hyperventilating, holding your breath, starving or overeating, yelling, shaking, sweating....
Sh*t just got bad. You could easily cross the line into permanent damage - to yourself and those around you.
Oh, you've taken that manic joy ride too?! Ok, here's my question:
What the BLEEP do you DO?!
This weekend, I had the rare delight of wanting to shave the skin off my palms just to chanel some of my internal torment OUTSIDE my body. I'll also confess strong desires to wield a bat on several occasions. ;) I also had a compelling urge to splash crimson paint over the interior walls of my house. (Don't ask why...)
Here's some of the emergency advice I've heard:
"Meditate."
"Go for a run - that always eases my stress."
" Eat a spinach salad." (Because THAT's what I'm craving under pressure!)
"Soak in the tub."
"Read a good book."
"Just acknowledge that you're exacerbating a frustrating reality."
All good, solid advice - pure to the core and very effective. But what about the times when you need MORE?! Like a super high dose of Anti-CRAZY?! I ended up just doing a ton of these type of things on this list - one right after the other. Normally any one activity or practice would alleviate the pain, but this beautiful meltdown took all the antidotes I have in my medicine belt.
I don't know that my solution was the best response to King-Kong crisis, especially because it's not always physically possible to go for a run or soak in a tub when your psyche most needs them.
I want to hear what you strong, beautiful people do. Please comment! Anyone out there conquered their meltdowns? :) I pray so!
Escape
Whew! That last section was pretty heavy, so here's a fun, stimulating new app I found this weekend! Couldn't put the darn thing DOWN!
I searched for "puzzles" in the iTunes store and rambled into this Myst-style, room-by-room challenge that hides keys, combo locks, and other contraptions for you to solve or assemble to escape oto the next room!
Gorgeous graphics. Gradually increasing challenge (but never TOO hard!). ADDICTING! :) Play it on your tablet for best effect.
Here it is: Can You Escape
Try it out and let me know what level you get to! If you're stuck, I may be able to send you a hint, but shhhh don't tell! ;)
Superhero UP!
A dear FB friend of mine Amy Kauffman (here she is with her blog "Amplifying Specs of Life"), posted this absolutely, show STOPPING motivational, Monday morning wakeup rally written by Daniella LaPorte! My spirit was giving Daniella a standing ovation after only the first couple paragraphs. Read! And then go forth and kick-butt, my friends! :)
"I’m all for mental health days. And gentleness. And I think the world should take the month of December off. And, for the love of all things holy, a four-day workweek would revolutionize the collective human spirit and, thus, health care.
But this pep talk isn’t about taking it easy. This is about another form of self-care: doing whatever it takes.
Just got dumped? Lace up your runners and move your body.
Under the weather? Go to work anyway, wearing your favorite sweater.
Up to your earrings in deadlines? Go cheer on your friend. Show up at the bake sale. Call your mother.
Crying before show time? Put some tea bags on your eyes. Say a prayer. Enter stage left.
Push. Turn up the volume. Go hard. Go harder.
Re-prioritize your aches and pains.
Infuse your sensitivities with courage.
Tell fear to Eff off.
Devote to Done.
There are soul-justified reasons to cancel. There are times to just stop. This isn’t one of them. Keep going. Show up. Full on. Full tilt. Full out.
Decide to be one of those people who pull it off.
Do what you say you’re going to do.
Don’t let us down.
Decide to rise.
Why decide to rise? Not for the reasons you might think. In fact, these are the reasons that will make you sick and tired:
Do not rise out of obligation. Do not rise because of feared consequences. Do not rise because you think being tough makes you smarter (it doesn’t).
Decide to rise because you want to expand your being, your life, your possibilities.
Decide to rise because super powers are meant to be activated and applied in everyday life.
Decide to rise to explore your place in the universe.
On the other side of deciding to rise is illumination, ecstasy, insight. And the angel of your strength is there waiting, smiling, and applauding with a goblet of endorphins for you. Drink up.
When you transcend circumstances, you get special privileges. You get evidence that you are indeed amazing and irrefutable proof that what your heart and mind choose is what matters. And you get the deep knowing that life wants you to win.
Decide to rise.
Lean in. Listen up. Closely.
It’s your soul speaking, and she says,
Get UP! I need you. I want you. I am you. Choose me.
Lean in. Listen up. Closely.
Decide to rise."
-Danielle LaPorte, "The Grand Pep Talk," on Positively Positive
