“Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.”
-Jack London
You can’t control the cards in which you’re dealt. Call it science, fact, or life’s most peculiar hand. The only thing we have the ability to control is how we play the game. Execute the best protocol, and live with circumstance. The moment we try to control any situation, which is generally not a good idea, we have a tendency to jump and steer in many ways… usually with little or no guidance. The impatience to find definitive answers stabs us in the foot with definitive quick highs and even lower blows.
When things happen that are out of our hands, take a moment. Be collective, not detective. Be proactive, not reactive. Give your body and brain time to process the information. Receive, retrieve, re-think. And re-think again. Run through as many, but not too many, scenarios on how to approach a situation that will result in a better outcome than the initial cards dealt. Use the cards as a catapult into the next phase of your life. Not dwell on a shitty hand. Life doesn’t deal a poor set of cards for the fun of it.. at least we can only hope not.. but it deals cards to see how much we have learned, grown, and can implement new procedures. New adaptations. New stress tolerance. And a test of new inner + physical strength.
If you find yourself weathering battle grounds on a consistent basis, than maybe it’s time you question where you are at in life. Am I happy? What patterns are showing up? What past lessons have I honored? If you struggle with giving yourself concrete yes or no answers, than continue on the battle ground. Life is testing you and building your beautiful stress bandwidth. Keep rolling with the tides, just don’t let them crash. The moment you can’t swim, you’ll drown.. and find yourself a few more future testing tides. Which is okay. Some of us are lucky to withstorm pretty gnarly experiences, to come out with a pretty gnarly adaptation and appreciation arsenal. The harder the experience, the harder the soldier.
No matter what, you’re going to be okay.
Deep breathing. Deep listening. Deep digging.
Receive the cards. Play the game. Poker Face, ON.
