Makelike a tree in asnowstorm and float
That snow we had recently came as a bit of a shock and although it has now gone it has left plenty of signs of its existence. I have especially noticed the impact it had on trees and the variety of ways different trees have coped with the snow.
I reckon we are a bit like trees, when you think about it. Of course, trees can’t do much about people cutting them down but the main environmental stressors they face – such as storms, high winds and heavy snow – are part of their regular experience, and like us, some trees handle stresses better than others. Some quietly bend and just go with the flow while others fight it all, stand rigid and the weight of the snow or wind forces them to crack or break.
The trees that came through the recent storms were those that decided to just go with the snow. I am not sure if trees are genetically programmed or have just learned from experience over the years but clearly some have learnt more quickly than others to handle their environment.
The trees that come through snow storms unscathed appear to be those that let their branches droop and just accept the snow, knowing that one day before too long it will stop snowing, the sun will come out, melt the snow and the burden will be off their branches.
But, of course, there are also trees, like some of us, that don’t show acceptance of their situation. Like those trees, we sometimes fall into the trap of fighting against our circumstances, worrying that it will never stop blowing or snowing and the bad times are here forever.
You have probably picked up on the point I ammaking when I compare ourselves with trees.
Like trees, fighting against the traumas that life dishes up will never improve the situation. The famous Hungarian endocrinologist Hans Seyle gave this sage advice: ‘‘Strive always for the highest attainable aim, but never put up resistance in vain.’’
Like the trees that successfully handle the snow storm we need to go along with immense pressure when it comes along, knowing that it won’t be with us forever.
Most times the main cause of bodily disease and distress can be attributed to us worrying about whether the pressure will ever reduce and whether we will ever come through the storm.
This extra worry will add extra stress and we will find it hard to keep our minds on the matter at hand and so the cycle will continue.
What is the solution, we ask? The psychologists tell us that we have two ways of dealing with stress – fight or flight. This programme in our bodies apparently goes back to the dinosaur days. If the dinosaur wasn’t too big humans fought it by chucking a spear at it; if it was too big and life-threatening hunters took flight.
For both of these strategies adrenaline was secreted into our glands to give us the extra edge for fight or flight.
The dinosaurs we face today can be managed better by using a different strategy than fight or flight.
Putting it simply, we exchange fight or flight for float. Float is the concept of accepting our traumas and at the same time recognising that our bodies may for a while still secrete adrenalin to enable us to deal with dinosaurs/ stresses. It is the adrenaline which gives us those awful feelings of anxiety we experience. What is worse is if we try to fight the trauma or flee from it, the symptoms actually get worse because the body secretes more adrenaline. By applying the floating technique, we get a different reaction in our bodies, even though it may take some time to come about.
The trick is to accept the feelings of anxiety and look on them like we would a pulled muscle or a head cold. They are a nuisance but they are not lifethreatening. We just keep floating along doing what needs to be done and having faith, like the trees, that the sun will eventually come out and melt the heavy load.
When we adopt this attitude our bodies, after a while, realise that there is no dinosaur after all and so it stops secreting the adrenaline. When this happens, the unpleasant effects of the adrenaline recede and disappear.
If we don’t go with the flow and accept what we can’t change, we will probably end up breaking our branches and adding a lot of distress to our bodies. This will make life a burden for ourselves, colleagues, friends and loved ones.
One of the best bits of advice I’ve received on this subject came from a wise old lady who had lived through some very torrid times.
‘‘Always remember,’’ she said, ‘‘there are two days in every week we must never worry about: yesterday and tomorrow.’’
No-one, she explained, irrespective of how tough their lot, will get anywhere worrying about today.
She lived fully the quote, ‘‘Yesterday has gone, tomorrow has not yet arrived, today is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present.’’