Sometimes life deals us such a savage blow it can seem as if the whole world has tipped off its axis and we are free falling into space. These disasters take us off guard and come at us with speed, making it difficult to breathe and impossible to form rational thought. So in blind panic we continue to fall, hoping to be caught but missing all the safety nets.
It is at this time that survival instincts kick in, everyone has an inner reserve of strength, and an inbuilt ability to self-preserve, this is our parachute moment, when things start to slow down and we can take deep breaths again. Instead of panic we have planning, we remember that although the landing will be rough it won’t be fatal and we can see the road below. It may not be a road we recognize but as L.David said “If you do not know where you are going any road will take you there”.
Once we have landed even if it is in unfamiliar territory and the landing has battered our self-belief we can now start to recover and we will be stronger from having survived alone and with a courage we did not know we had.
“Promise me you will always remember, you’re braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.”
Christopher Robin to Pooh