Quicksand rarely pulls anyone all the way under. Thrashing is what gets you stuck deeper. Slow moves get you out.
CREATIVITY
WHAT THIS MEANS
Panic does most of the damage in a bad situation. The trouble itself is often survivable, and it is the flailing, the frantic extra effort, the five messages at midnight that drive you deeper in. Slow and deliberate feels wrong when you are frightened, which is why so few people manage it. The calm move is almost always the one that works.
When you next feel the urge to act immediately, wait an hour and write the three options down instead. Take the smallest reversible step first. Tell one steady person what is happening, because panic shrinks when it is said out loud.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Where would slowing down get you out faster than struggling?
MORE IN PARADOX, METAPHOR & FOOD FOR THOUGHT
- A compass needle is light so it can turn easily. Hold your opinions light enough to turn when you learn something.
- A scale reads zero when nothing’s on it and still isn’t broken. Empty seasons don’t mean you’re broken.
- A bridge exists because somebody refused to accept the river as the end of the road.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.