I will admit, for some time I struggled with a serious anger problem. Sometimes it would come out in the form of yelling, punching walls or nearly giving myself a heart attack. One instance I remember in particular I was so angry I went up to this table in my house and I just threw everything on the ground (Dramatic, I know.).
As I was standing the wreckage of my anger, I looked at the blank table. It just seemed peaceful. I started to calm down and began to think a bit more clearly.
So many times in life, things begin to stack up, slowly. Problems that didn’t seem like that big of a deal begin to pile on one another and next thing you know, you feel like you’re drowning. Then the frustration kicks in, the doubt, the pain, the anger.
How did things get so bad? I thought I had a hold of things, but everything seems to be spiraling out of control. Since everything else in my life is out of control, why can’t I be? This is generally my justification to let my anger take over and cause more chaos in my life.
After a few moments of looking at this table with nothing on it, I had an “ah-ha”, moment. I needed to wipe everything clean, I needed to go back to square one and rebuild from the ground up.
I needed to clear off the table of my life. I needed to go back to the drawing board and figure out what went wrong and what I can do now to start over and do it the right away.
I know, I know, this sounds awful. Isn’t there some sort of easier way? Do I have to really go back to the bottom and start fresh?
Yes, just trust me on this. I’ve already written two to three paragraphs while writing this and deleted them. It’s not the end of the world, in fact, it’s the beginning of a new one.
You see when you clear off the table, it gives you breathing room, it allows you to see things clearly and from a rational state of mind, not just an overwhelmed emotional one. Things for the most part in life, don’t work out the way we think it will or they just simply don’t work out. It’s just life, that’s okay.
Every day you wake up is a new day to start again and see what went wrong and what you can do to try to make it better. There is no limit to how many times you can clear off the table during life. I’ve done it at least over a dozen times in my life and am currently doing it right now. There’s no shame in it except the shame you give yourself about it.
We’re all human, we all make mistakes, we all fall flat on our face, we all get overwhelmed. Clear off the table. Take a second look at what’s going on. Get some space away from it.
Then, start putting things back on the table and see if it makes sense. If that doesn’t work? Well, clear it off and try again.
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