Wednesday, June 26, 2024
I’m always amazed at how quickly problems resolve when you settle down, internally. When someone does something you don’t particularly like, or if you receive an unexpected bill, or if you have any challenge, it’s easy to get stirred up. That agitation, however, doesn’t do much to resolve the situation.
Barney Fife, a character in the famous TV show, The Andy Griffith Show, used to always say to impending trouble, “Nip it – nip it in the bud!” This is a colloquialism that has the image of one clamping down on brewing trouble and snuffing it out. When we see trouble we want to press it down, push it away, or tense up on it.
But I have found that a letting go sensation, a releasing feeling, or a surrendering of mind and body actually resolves the problem. Nipping it in the bud, or clamping it, is a way of holding on to it. You want to remove it so badly that you’re bound up by that unsightly desire for it to go away. Clenching your jaw or fist or tossing up your dukes won’t make it go away. It will diffuse if you release.
Once the situation is no longer viewed as adversarial, it becomes less hostile, benign, and then perhaps even friendly. When you let go and settle down, your creative ingenuity really gets to work. You’ll come up with ideas to solve your problem. You’ll find ways to change and adapt, and just by being calm, the situation might take care of itself without any interference on your part. Rather than thinking you’ve got to nip it, try cooling it. I have a feeling if you do, the problem will dissolve on its own.