When Confusion Reigns

There are times when we’re perplexed beyond the moment’s hope. All thinking has stopped and all that remains of our conscious beings is feeling—estranged feeling. When confusion reigns within, even for one minute, we can panic or get angry or become sad. We don’t experience peace at these times.

But we can.

We can, if we avail upon ourselves the possibility that in all situations there can be peace. But peace can come only when our self-imposed pressure is reduced.

The Occurrence Of Lost Days

Many of our days are lost in many different ways. There’s something inexplicable about the lost day—that period of time where we’re far from our perfect selves. When we accept these horrible days for what they are, without analysing them too much, just enduring them, we learn something about ourselves and life.

We learn we’re free to do this—that we’re free to struggle—that struggling, in many ways, is acceptable—if we can deem it as acceptable.

There must be some answer to situations of life where confusion reigns. One day we’re sad, the next we achieve a great deal, and the following day we’re frustrated. Every day is different; some are brighter than others, whilst others are contemptible.

Maybe the honest life, one taken at authentic face value, is a lot less thoroughly perfect than we’d pretend, or like, it to be. In any one week there may be just two really good days. Two or three may be ambivalent experiences. And two or three may be woeful. Which ones are the lost days? We might only learn from the ambivalent or woeful days. The lost days may actually be the really good ones.

What To Do With Confusion

Our starting point was poignant. There are times when our thinking goes AWOL. Whether what’s caused it is overload, or a troubled relationship, or an unexplained reason matters little. The important thing is how we might pour God’s grace over ourselves and diminish the pressure such that our right minds may, of their own time, return.

On any of our not-so-good days we may easily fall into the trap of getting frustrated with ourselves for the sadness or anger or incapacity we feel. But such frustration won’t do us any good. It will only make things worse.

Reducing the pressure, particularly self-imposed pressure, is the order of the day. Times like these our feelings devoid of thinking need to ensure we protect ourselves.

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We have no reason to expose ourselves when we’re vulnerable. On sad, mad or bad days it’s fine to accept what is, and reduce the pressure on ourselves. A strange peace can be felt at such times because we’re being gentle with ourselves.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.