Calm in a Crisis
by Starcat

What happens when you find yourself in a crisis? By crisis, I mean anything from a minor annoyance like having a flat tire on your way to an appointment, to falling on the ice and breaking a bone. Crisis takes you out of your normal routine or the expectations you had for your day and changes things in a way that may be unpleasant or painful. It’s human nature to get upset when events arise that you didn’t wish for or desire. Yet often these events need to be dealt with, and it’s easier to do so when you’re calm, or at least calm enough to see clearly.

In my experience, having a regular spiritual practice will help you keep or quickly regain your center in a crisis. It’s not that you’ll never be scared or angry or shocked – it’s just that you’ll have practical, everyday experience with finding your way back to an even keel. By training your powers of focus, concentration, and connection, you’ll respond immediately when it’s time to put them to use.

It doesn’t matter exactly what your chosen practice is – it might be meditation, prayer, divination, or any number of things. The main reason it helps you deal with tough situations is that you’re taking time, deliberately, on a regular basis, to connect with the Divine, with a part of yourself that is bigger than your normal waking consciousness. When you tap in to that energy, you’re allowing it to flow through you, and provide a stronger means of access to it.

I find that when I’m in a crisis situation, my mind first becomes a bit sharper and clearer. I evaluate what is going on and what needs to be done, then take action to do what I can to help. I make suggestions to others involved, if that seems helpful, and work with them to resolve things. Later, being the sensitive type that I am, I might collapse into tears, which is what I did on the recent evening my beloved aunt fell and broke her leg. But that part came after the paramedics had arrived and she was being cared for. My composure earlier in the process, when I fetched blankets and brought a coat for my Dad and made phone calls while we waited for the ambulance, I gratefully attribute to my daily spiritual practice. I’m so thankful for the connection I experience whenever I tap into it.