Why I Regulate Before I Narrate
Over the weekend, I was given notice on the flat where I live. Not because anything is wrong, only circumstances changed. When I got the message, there was an initial shock in my body, an overwhelming energy moving through me. In that moment, I took space to pause, to focus on breath, moved my attention inwards, and started taking some actions. When my inner narrator came online after some regulation, I told myself there will be a solution to this problem. That’s the first story. Trying to get the inner narrator online when the system is still flooding is not easy. Taking time to regulate first is vital.
The initial shock, I think, came from two things: it was unexpected, and I love living where I am. A few days have now passed and I’m beginning to feel quite excited about the move. That’s the second story. I have not found a new permanent place yet, but I have no doubt that I will. In the meantime, I am grateful for the good support network around me. That’s the third story.
This is where my meditation practice shows its true power. Without it, I suspect I would still be spiralling, unable to connect with a more useful story about what is happening. The stories we tell ourselves shape how we live inside our circumstances. I’m not suggesting we gaslight ourselves out of a crap situation. Not every situation is good. But almost every situation can be used.
Because this is just life doing its thing. Sometimes there is fog, sometimes thunder and lightning, often sunshine. We have no control over the weather. A landlord giving notice out of the blue is weather. What we can influence is how prepared we are when it turns, and practices like meditation are that preparation. The weather is the fact. The story is what we make of it. And the better regulated we are, the sooner the narrator comes back online to write one worth living in.
Tor
If this resonated with you, you can learn more about how to work with me over on www.tornjamo.com