Dear Girija:

“calm is my motto now. It is so valuable. I want to remember this week forever. It was beautiful.. I felt COMPETENT… I felt so content… I am happy being who I am”-

Excellent experience. Absorb it, take it in and let it be absorbed in your brain. This experience did happen and therefore it can happen again and again, it can be your ongoing life experience.

But prepare for the following: a problem will occur soon enough, some distress at work or at home, an intense painful feeling occurring in your brain and all that contentment and confidence and calm, all that will be … nowhere to be seen or felt. This is where most people fail and return to the mindset of before.

When that happens, whatever it may be, come back to this thread, re-read your own experience and this very post I am writing now. As well as the following that I am preparing for that future event:

– what happened just now is a sort of an earthquake in the brain, the new experiences of calm and contentment were shaken and temporarily gone, but they are retrievable. You experienced those before and you will experience these again. Calm down best you can, let that earthquake and the after shocks settle, let the dust settle, take some time and make no decisions during this time, don’t panic.

When you are calm enough, think rationally. Plan rationally according to your values and according to what worked for you before. There will be other earthquakes, other distresses coming up. Over time you will get better and better at managing these crises. Have patience, it takes patience and practice, keep at it.

anita