Crisis Management

Editor's Note:  I love to hear from my wife.  Here's some sage stuff from her.

Ahhh….Finally a couple of days where every single thing doesn’t feel new, unknown in crisis or super expensive.  I have felt like the underdog for weeks and it’s nice to get a handle on a few things.  We have plenty of food and we’ve made some time for play.

I’ve realized that I cannot live in crisis mode for long.  I get numb to it.  Several years ago I went to see the first Lord of the Rings movie.  The pace of peril completely wore me down.  It felt like the little fellowship was in mortal peril every two minutes and it exceeded my ability to emotionally engage.  We’re not in mortal peril.  The boat floats.  We’ll figure everything else out.  

I can’t have a full blown emotional response based on conjecture--even educated, experienced conjecture like, “Your port engine is shot.”   It’s easy to feel grateful for advice, counsel, and help.  I just can’t get wound up with worry without facts.  Then, once we have facts, my energy turns to decision making.  It would behoove me to apply this approach to other areas of my life.  ;)

I’m learning that I must commit to routines and only give crisis management a portion of my day’s time and energy.  The problem will still be there tomorrow.  A calm environment where there is food to eat and space for relationships and reflection is increasingly important to me.  We need time together and time apart.  We need work and we need play.  We need routine and spontaneity.  I feel much more peaceful this way.