It Is What It Is
What to do when the shoe drops (and it will).
Do you ever feel like your peace is being hijacked and there’s nothing you can do to stop it?
Maybe a power-hungry colleague unexpectedly throws you under the bus during a presentation.
Or a random stranger walks up to you and punches you in the face (unfortunately, this really happened to a friend of mine).
Or maybe, that problematic person in your life decides that it’s time to drag you into one of their toxic dramas, yet again.
Despite your best efforts to keep the chaos at bay, the universe seems to throw a kink or two—big and small—your way like clockwork, usually when life starts to feel peaceful (finally!).
At least that’s what life has felt like for me.
It’s gotten to a point where this ongoing ‘schedule of unfortunate events’ feels like one big cosmic joke, and despite a thousand tries, I’ve not gotten any closer to the punchline.
When the shoe drops, all I can do is let it.
I don’t try to catch it.
I just let it drop, watching how it falls and where it lands.
Then, I wait to see what happens.
What am I feeling? Is it shock? Disappointment? Sadness? Betrayal? Grief? Anger?
What’s coming my way? Is it Honesty? Or is it hostility? Projection? Blame?
Can I count on the other party to show up willing to have an emotionally healthy conversation and repair?
Or will trying to fix the broken shoe lead to an even bigger blow up?
Whatever it is, I have to let the storm run its course and accept that I cannot control what other people say or do.
Yes, the shoe can and will always drop, but I also can and will take my power back by remembering this: It is what it is.
It’s not what I wish it was.
It’s not what I think it should be.
So instead of putting up a fight where I know my energy will be wasted, I keep my feet planted firmly in reality, buckle up, hang on to myself, and then do everything I can to find my way back to calm in the present, where I belong.
✨ Let It Be
This is the conclusion a friend and I came to while talking about the chaos in our lives recently.
Specifically, the chaos that others stir up and bring into our orbits.
We acknowledged that allowing ourselves to get sucked into needless drama and reacting to it wouldn’t change a thing.
Unless there’s a willingness to communicate and collaborate, the reality is that most people will do what they want to do, regardless of what anyone else thinks is right or wrong.
This willingness may never emerge, but you know what? That’s fine.
This is where acceptance and doing what you can to protect your mental peace come into play.
You accept that it is what it is, and let it be.
Then, you shift your focus to things that will actually support what’s important to you.
Protect the precious time you have on this earth as fiercely as you can.
Once it’s gone, it’s the only resource you can never get back.
Wishing you peace and calm,
-Michele
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