Surviving Life When Life’s Beyond Words

Facing speechless moments is the craft of humanity in the midst of situations unrelenting in pain, mystery, and inner siege.

We all have moments from our childhood where we faced irreconcilable emotions, where we were swept away on a current of momentary helplessness for the situations that appended them to ourselves. These are times when we did not ask for what came; what came was frightening or embarrassing or humiliating. It left its mark on us. It was then forever etched on our memory. We may or may not laugh about it now, but it did have its influence over us—a starkly negative experience that may continue to speak into our lives today.

We may have no explanation for why we reacted. There may have been a lack of reaction. Indeed, we may be embarrassed that we reacted, or didn’t react, the way we did. Others may think we are fools for having reacted that way. But they are not us and we are not them. They weren’t there in our skin, in our mind, or in our heart.

Still, we may find it very hard to accept how we reacted.

The Blessing of Acceptance in the Moment

In the numbing moment, when we feel overwhelmed by what is occurring, helpless against stopping it or even controlling the pace and mood of the situation, we are wise to allow what we cannot change to sweep over us. This, of course, takes courage.

This form of surrendering does take courage, just like jumping out of an aeroplane on a skydive.

When we are all at sea, overwhelmed from within and outward of ourselves, all we can do—the only decision we have access to—is to surrender to the situation; to go with it; to trust.

There is a steady strength we are blessed with when we take such a leap of faith when we have no real choice; I mean, what choice is there when further resistance will only damage our cause?

Surrendering to the unpalatable moment is the wisdom of acceptance beyond choice.

If we were unbelievers we would say that what powers our surrender is our decision, but as believers we believe that what powers our surrender is the grace of God.

Such a surrender is peace; accepting that there is a choice even though there appears no choice. There is always a choice.

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Some moments are incredible in their capacity to overwhelm us. We could panic or we could accept these moments, and, though acceptance sounds easy enough, it does need practice. Being numbed to our pain is the invitation to accept the moment that is, for this time, beyond us. Such an acceptance has wisdom about it.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.

Disclaimer: the angle of this article is for emotional peace in a state of psychological chaos. It’s not aimed at threats of physical violence. The aim of the article is to help someone overcome difficulty using good faith.