Chop Wood, Carry Water
"Life is hard," Cindy's grandmother Mémé used to sigh to her.
Usually we can handle all the hard aspects at once, but sometimes we just can't. So we attempt to reassure each other with the Buddhist saying, "Chop wood, carry water." It tells us to "Keep going! Put one foot in front of the other! Focus on what's necessary for basic survival!" Anyone else notice that's getting harder and harder to do?
Chopping wood and carrying water are especially tough to do in the midst of an earthquake. The current US presidential administration has been rocking our foundation for months. As the ground beneath us shakes, it's harder to walk with sure footing. The water splashes out of our buckets. We accidentally drop our axes. Our neat piles of wood topple over.
Even as aftershocks reverberate, meteorites are landing in our backyards. These out-of-the-blue administrative assignments unexpectedly show up via postal mail, email, or phone calls. Your health insurance company suddenly drops your coverage, leading to hours upon hours on the phone to get it reinstated. Or your bank rejects a mobile deposit from 2 weeks ago and now thousands of dollars are missing from your account. More time-consuming, disturbingly inane phone conversations must ensue.
The earthquakes and meteorites drain our energy and mess with our mindsets. We can't simply focus on chopping and carrying because insurance and banking are centrally important. And as more technology and organizational systems crumble in US society, these interferences are becoming more the norm than the exception. Even if we're not in the midst of crisis, increasing general uncertainty combined with a multitude of specific administrative hassles regularly leave us devoid of space to recover, recalibrate, and replenish.
How can we possibly deal with earthquakes and meteorites while holding down our jobs, managing our households, raising our children, caring for our aging parents, and squeezing in care for our own mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional health? And what if on top of all this we have "bonus" responsibilities in a crisis?
Sometimes life gets so hard that it's actually impossible to handle solo. That's where we Crisis Navigation Partners® come in. Although we can't prevent earthquakes or meteorites, we can help determine what needs to be handled first and prioritize your next most important actions. We can guide you to choose where to put your energy and what to delegate. We can do research on your behalf. We can help you prepare for difficult conversations. We can recommend excellent resources.
Yes, life is hard, but you never have to do it alone. What support would feel most valuable to you right now? We would love for you to book a complimentary Zoom to share your situation and explore how we can help shore up your foundation, arrange removal of your debris, and restabilize your neat piles– to reinstate your full Brilliance-Based® functioning.
What meteorites have you been experiencing? Share in the comments below.
And for suggestions about how to mitigate our current political earthquake, check out the actions Jessica Craven recommends in her daily Substack "Chop Wood, Carry Water."
