snow globe effect
This method will help you deal with uncertainty
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Do you feel like your life is in chaos and you are losing control of everything that is happening to you? The so-called snow globe effect can help you deal with unsafe situations.
It is not easy to endure uncertainty. Feeling at the mercy and having to give up all control. But both are an unavoidable part of life. There are situations that we cannot influence. Our lives and everyday routines suddenly feel like a roller coaster ride without us having any memory of getting on. Psychologist Phil Stark explains in “Psychology Today” what he advises his patients to do in such moments: He compares the situation to a snow globe.
The snow globe effect: When life whirls around us uncontrollably
Everything is suddenly stirred up, nothing is in its original place and where we would like it to be. And we’re in the middle of this blizzard. We can’t do anything about it and at the same time we have to deal with our fear, our powerlessness, maybe anger and a multitude of other feelings. Our first impulse in such a situation is often to fight the snow. We try by force to keep him from whirling on, want to hold him tight. Put at least a few flakes back where we would like them to be. But we whirl up the snow a little more each time. And thus achieve the opposite of what we actually want.
The expert’s advice is: stop fighting the snow. Instead, calm down and wait for the storm to clear up on its own. Because – and this is the same in life as in the snow globe – the snow, the chaos, everything that we cannot control will eventually settle down. It can help to realize that we don’t have many things (entirely) in our own hands. Neither if we lose our job, nor if our partner leaves us, nor if a loved one dies. The only thing we really have control over is how we react to it.
When we stop fighting, we gather strength for the future
This realization doesn’t necessarily make all these things any less painful. But if we manage to simply accept the situation as it is, the first thing we do is save energy. Because fighting the inevitable takes strength. Power that we can better invest in processing our feelings and in the future.
Once we stop fighting, we can get a realistic picture of the situation. While everything around us is in turmoil, we don’t see clearly anyway. As soon as the snow settles in the sphere – even if it takes a while – we can take stock. what really happened What does that mean for me? How do I feel about this? We can look at our emotions, reflect and accept them. Only then does it make sense to look ahead and find solutions. But desperately looking for quick fixes while the snow and life are still swirling around us just drains our energy and ultimately slows down the process.
Even in all the chaos you remain rooted
And the waiting tells you another truth: no matter how hard the blizzard rages around you, you, like the figure in the snow globe, stay firmly on the ground. It may not feel like that in the midst of the chaos of your life, but your essence, your self, remains untouched. Even if everything changes around you and that can of course also change you to a certain extent. You still remain you, deeply rooted in yourself.
As hard as it may be for you to do nothing at a time of uncertainty, it may be best to wait until the chaos in your life’s snowglobe has cleared up a bit. After that, you can become active and use your energy in a targeted manner to move positively into the future – whatever devastation the storm may have wreaked.
Source used: psychologytoday.com