Everyone needs a surge protector to prevent an electrical surge from damaging your electronic equipment, right? How about one for your soul?
I recently had a fairly ridiculous thing happen to me. I was fortunate to have a friend that let me vent; they listened and empathized with me and that friendship truly felt like a surge protector. Because of that safe experience, I was able to "let my flare flare" briefly and then blow it out. My hot spot didn't linger long, because I had a safe place to light it and then move out of its way. It lit, it burned, it sputtered. I could then clean it up and move it to the trash - where it belonged.
In this case, surge protection came from caring friends. It also came from within; taking a beat, giving myself space to process, meditation. We can all grow in our mindset and skillset to look at things as they truly are. We can (and should) feel all our feels - because those matter and they are so very valid - and then we can pick up that item and turn it around and look at it for an increased clarity. We can experience/honor the feelings and then let them pass. We can often protect our own emotional equipment from being damaged when we are able to get a step back, a deep breath, some perspective.
Slow down. Take that pause. Surges will come, for absolute certain. And if you're lucky, you'll have friends to stand by you, laughter to share, and perspective for clarity and reality. As Taylor Swift says, "Haters gonna hate... heartbreakers gonna break... fakers gonna fake... I'm just gonna shake... shake it off."
Here's to the surge protectors.
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves.
-Leo Tolstoy
