Here I am on day two of the this three day challenge and I MUST post another quote(thank goodness this is only three days)… hmmm… must make this interesting and not too wordy… can I do it?… (probably not)
Sharing these quotes has caused some anxiety… not sure why… other than as I mentioned on the first day, I only want to share quotes that have a deep personal meaning. I guess a better way to say this is that I feel like I am getting naked in front of all of you and I am not using a “body double”… or even dimming the lights… I am really exposing me…(don’t worry that was just a metaphor… I will remain clothed)
I shared my anxiety with Isabelle (my wife) as I spoke to her last night about quote one . I first had to translate the poem into french and let me tell you nothing ruins a poem more than when it is poorly translated. She told me that my next quote should be a sentence that I have been saying frequently for the past couple of years. Although I hadn’t originally planned on “quoting myself”, I find it is usually a good idea to follow the advice of your wife (don’t tell her I said that)
SO….Here goes…
QUOTE TWO
“I have rolled over on my back and am floating down stream”
by me….
Let me explain… before you think I am just being silly.. or worse strange (and not in the good way). YES… I have been saying this often and it is usually in response to the question “How is work going?”. Believe it or not I can get extremely stressed and frustrated at work. (I know you are all gasping in disbelief) I will offer an example. At a previous employer while discussing a project I was working on… management stated the following… “Best case scenario… we deliver the product… it doesn’t work… but they will not be able to sue us”. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and that was “BEST CASE”.
There are situations in life and work that are just plain horrible. Those situations become worse when they are out of your control. I hate being “out of control”. I have always tried to fight against those situations… metaphorically swimming and struggling against the current. There are situations when fighting against the current wont change anything. You will still end up swept away… and worse.. all of your fighting leaves you exhausted and diminished.
Several years ago as my stress reached unhealthy levels because of several “out of my control” situations….I stopped (believe it or not) and pictured myself rolling over on my back and floating down stream. At first I felt somewhat guilty because I was giving up in a way. I now realize I was controlling the only thing I could and that was my reaction to the situation. We will all be in stupid, bad, or horrible situations and what really matters is how we react to those situation.. This simple statement while maybe not profound has been a great coping mechanism and a trigger phrase that has helped me let go and find inner peace. It is also a good euphemism for a bad day at work when Isabelle asks.
I am curious about your thoughts with respect to my quote… please leave comments..(be gentle.. remember I am naked…)
hmmm… maybe I will create a new award called the “naked blogger”… for those who are willing to truly bare their souls… until I do…I am still looking for requests to participate in quote of the day…
I will give it another day… and day three I will leave a list of blogs I like… to make up for two days without offering names.
weird weekends 
I really like your quote – it’s much more eloquent than “I can’t control this, I can only control my reaction to it,” which was an epiphany for me a few years ago. I still have to remind myself to do this, but now I’ll picture myself swimming instead of going boneless (like a toddler).
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Thanks madgeface… I don’t think I have ever heard boneless like a toddler…
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That’s what I called it when my boys would deliberately go limp in protest of something I was asking them to do, really awful things like picking up toys or wiping their own nose. Going boneless was also accompanied by whining. And I’ve heard of pets going boneless (still my terminology, not what the pet owners called it) when dressed in sweaters.
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I now know exactly what you are talking about… have seen it many times… by the way… love the hats you make for you boys…
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Thanks! I have 1 more to make (he still has to give me some design guidance) & then I’ll start with the dogs & cats (2 of each)! 😀 😀
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I just want to say how much I appreciate this post….I, too, felt (metaphorically) naked, and (literally) anxious. But, not until Day 3…half way through, I almost gave up…I really, really love your quote, it is brilliant and I am going to use it–and, of course, give you the credit 🙂 I know exactly what you are saying….just the other day, when commiserating with someone who was having quite a rough day, I expressed that sometimes it is not worth the effort to try and see the bright side right away…self-compassion (and mental survival) requires that we know when to “…roll over on our backs and float downstream”. Thank you for rising to the challenge… 🙂
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This might come across as totally unrelated, but I had so much to say/think about this post that I’ll just leave this: I overheard two friends talking on the train a few hours ago and they were talking about overcoming burnout (one of them was reading a book about it, I was intrigued but didn’t catch the name of the book). He said, he took advice from the book and wrote down 50 things he likes, so he could could actively seek out what makes him feel good.
It sounds like crappy self help book when I say it like this, but I like the sentiment. In general I feel the gesture is the same, actively seeking out something else to focus on, letting everything else wash over you.
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Thanks Nick… if you come across the name of the book let me know…
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I liked this post. Your quote can take so many meanings and people can personalize it to fit their situation, so for that reason I think it’s a good one to share. No need to be naked! Lol
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