Saturday, August 4, 2007

From Out of Stupid

I did something stupid yesterday.

I was carrying a wooden stepladder back to the garage. It was horizontal at about shoulder level and I’d hooked my arm in it upright with my left hand bent back comfortably supporting the top bar.
That was fine. I’d done this several times already this summer. Nothing unusual here.
Then, for reasons I plain don’t get, my arm got stuck. It was wedged firmly. My hand was bent back toward my wrist at such a sharp angle it hurt.

Slight panic started to set in as there was no one nearby to help. I had visions of screaming down the street with a stepladder held out like a lance of courtesy in front of me.

Every squirm I tried made it worse. I tried pulling my hand free. No luck.
Rather than give into the panic I decided to think. It went in. It can come out.
As soon as I realized that the solution flowed into my mind: Change the angle.
So I did. I dipped it down and it took the pressure off. My arm slipped out easily.

Instead of freaking out and worrying about taking an ax to the problem I gave it calm thought.
Where did the solution come from? Me? Maybe. A guide? I don’t know, but it seems likely.
I credit my calmness to meditation and self-hypnosis. Altered state work teaches calmness and balance. Those qualities help us to think and to heed messages from Spirit.

I was reminded once again that when faced with a problem I should turn it over and tickle its tummy until the solution flows out.

5 comments:

Crabby McSlacker said...

Congratulations on holding panic at bay and letting reason prevail!

I'm an anxious person by nature, but I do find as I get older I've sort of gradually learned that most "uh oh, how the hell am I going to deal with this" situations somehow end up turning out ok. So I try to buy myself at least a little time between "uh oh" and full out panic.

Thanks for the reminder, because you never know when weird scary stuff is going to happen!

Leah J. Utas said...

Thanks, Crabby.
I've found that, too, about most situations eventually turning out okay.

Virginia Lee said...

Good for you, Leah. Many people would have gone running down the road with that ladder.

It's wonderful how if you take a moment to breathe and clear your mind how solutions to situations like usually come quickly and easily. Thanks for sharing that lesson.

Dawn said...

I'm more pleased than you can imagine that you did not resort to the ax!

Leah J. Utas said...

Dawn - Thanks. That rickety old stepladder has been mine for nearly 40 years. I'd hate to ax-murder it.

Virginia Lee- I'm so glad you're here. Solutions will present themselves if we take the time to listen. And I can just imagine someone calling the newspaper to get a photo of me with the stepladder.