We have all seen the movie clip where the victim has no where to go. The bad guy has them trapped in a room or corner. The potential victim’s heart is racing with sweat coming down their brow. Fear has pushed their adrenaline so high with no where to go.
Deadlines, complex difficult situations, bad behavior in a relationship, people from all sides telling you what to do, no way to make everyone happy, the only decision you could make is not a good one, many will be so mad at you when you do something, and so on…..
There are many situations where we make ourselves into victims. Just like we saw so many times on TV or at the movies. The potential victim’s heart was racing. Their fear pushed them to the conclusion that there was no way out. These feelings are born within the victim’s mind.
Everything that I mentioned that appear in our lives, such as deadlines, don’t involve physical danger. Yet our fears are just as intense and controlling. We create the imaginary walls around us that make us feel that we are backed into a corner.
What might happen if we change the way we view those exact things that bring fear into our lives as having options and opportunities? Of reassuring ourselves that after every storm there is calm and sunshine?
When we begin to understand that the only thing we can control in any difficult situation is how we choose to react to it, then the fear begins to go away. A quiet clarity surrounds us making questions like “what else can I do” or “what other options do I have” magically appear.
None of this will change the difficulty of the situation. Difficult situations require you to walk into them to get past them rather than running from them to avoid them. For they never disappear on their own.
What will change is that you will no longer feel backed into a corner. You will be encouraged by the different possibilities you could pursue. Feeling more like David did when confronted by Goliath.