Posted on Wednesday, October 04, 2006 by Patrick YC Lim
Have you ever had that day when events came up not the way you’d expected? When things were not going the way you’ve wanted them to. When people whom you thought were on your side are now in an opposite camp. When everything seems to be going wrong. People whom you love and respect irritate the heck out of you! When everything that cannot go wrong, went wrong and everything else sucks. Whoa, I am in one right now.
I liken it to a perfect storm. It’s like a bright sunny calm day, when the ocean looks so inviting to take the boat out. After sailing for a while, black clouds suddenly appear from the horizon and are rushing fast towards you and your 100-footer boat. You have gone miles out in the ocean. The ocean turns choppy and starts to boil and waves are rising up from 10 to 50 meters high. You try to turn around to head back to land. The engine starts to splutter, choke and die. You jump to your radio to give the distress call to the coast guard. No response. Meanwhile you are tossing around in your boat with a dead silent engine. Imagine a matchbox being tossed around in water. You have run into a perfect storm. You wish it was a bad dream. But it is not.
At that point of time you are helpless. You can only wish that all these are not happening, but they are. Now what would you do?
I am experiencing a ‘perfect storm’ situation today. Fortunately, it’s not at the ocean. But right now, everything is not going as expected. The natural tendency is to blame someone and look for causes that create this unpleasantness. I am disappointed. I feel disgusted at the attitude of some people and appalled by the way they are thinking. I feel I have done so much for them and are not the least appreciated. Anger, yes anger swells within me. I want to lash out back at them.... But no, I am better than this, to allow a ‘perfect storm’ situation to overcome me.
I sat and reflected for a while what I should do. Calm came. When calm is in control it does not matter if there is a storm outside. After a while I began to forgive them and to love them. They are what they are, perfectly normal and behaving just the way they are. I have to rise above the situation. I must not be sucked in. Just like the ocean, the water, the wind, the waves, the clouds, they are what they are. At normal times they are beautiful. But on a day like this, they can cause havoc and create perfect storm. If I allow it to suck me in, I’m a ‘goner’. It’s part of life experience. And as long as I am sailing in the ocean, this is what I have to expect. What matters is to survive when each storm jumps up on me. I’ll survive when I remain calm, take corrective actions, and respect the elements.
There is always a perfect storm. It’s not just up to the mercy of the elements - the ocean, the wind, the waves, rain, and the current but it has to be the captain of the boat, i.e. me who has to read the signs and steer the boat so as not to sail into a perfect storm. I am responsible. No other person can be blamed. It’s I who chose what I did. The others are just the elements, like the elements in the ocean that create a perfect day or a perfect storm.
That’s the lesson I learn.
I liken it to a perfect storm. It’s like a bright sunny calm day, when the ocean looks so inviting to take the boat out. After sailing for a while, black clouds suddenly appear from the horizon and are rushing fast towards you and your 100-footer boat. You have gone miles out in the ocean. The ocean turns choppy and starts to boil and waves are rising up from 10 to 50 meters high. You try to turn around to head back to land. The engine starts to splutter, choke and die. You jump to your radio to give the distress call to the coast guard. No response. Meanwhile you are tossing around in your boat with a dead silent engine. Imagine a matchbox being tossed around in water. You have run into a perfect storm. You wish it was a bad dream. But it is not.
At that point of time you are helpless. You can only wish that all these are not happening, but they are. Now what would you do?
I am experiencing a ‘perfect storm’ situation today. Fortunately, it’s not at the ocean. But right now, everything is not going as expected. The natural tendency is to blame someone and look for causes that create this unpleasantness. I am disappointed. I feel disgusted at the attitude of some people and appalled by the way they are thinking. I feel I have done so much for them and are not the least appreciated. Anger, yes anger swells within me. I want to lash out back at them.... But no, I am better than this, to allow a ‘perfect storm’ situation to overcome me.
I sat and reflected for a while what I should do. Calm came. When calm is in control it does not matter if there is a storm outside. After a while I began to forgive them and to love them. They are what they are, perfectly normal and behaving just the way they are. I have to rise above the situation. I must not be sucked in. Just like the ocean, the water, the wind, the waves, the clouds, they are what they are. At normal times they are beautiful. But on a day like this, they can cause havoc and create perfect storm. If I allow it to suck me in, I’m a ‘goner’. It’s part of life experience. And as long as I am sailing in the ocean, this is what I have to expect. What matters is to survive when each storm jumps up on me. I’ll survive when I remain calm, take corrective actions, and respect the elements.
There is always a perfect storm. It’s not just up to the mercy of the elements - the ocean, the wind, the waves, rain, and the current but it has to be the captain of the boat, i.e. me who has to read the signs and steer the boat so as not to sail into a perfect storm. I am responsible. No other person can be blamed. It’s I who chose what I did. The others are just the elements, like the elements in the ocean that create a perfect day or a perfect storm.
That’s the lesson I learn.
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