I hope you’re keeping warm if you’re in Europe right now. It was a bit of a shocker to return to the bitter cold after relaxing in 30-degree heat over in Australia the past few weeks.
Which brings me to my topic this week. It’s something I’ve held for a long time and something I’m learning to get my head around.
It’s drama.
For most of my life, I’ve made the choice to have a dramatic response to various situations. I’ve been in many different employment situations where I’ve been annoyed about something and my dramatic side will lead me to think I must leave immediately and go travel around the world. I’ve had dramatic responses in relation to people and situations, often with a negative angle – this person is trapping me, this situation is making it impossible for me to reach my full potential etc etc…
Luckily though, I’ve now started to notice the moment I go into drama, and see that in most cases it really doesn’t serve me to have such a reaction.
When I was in Australia this time the minute I felt the warmth on my skin I decided, in typical dramatic fashion, that I should move there immediately. To hell with the UK and it’s cold dark weather – I must cancel everything and begin again half way round the world! But moments later I realised what old habit I was going in to. How a dramatic reaction to discomfort really wasn’t necessary, and how just noticing that I loved feeling the warmth, and that I probably need to plan to go to more warm climates next winter, was probably a healthier approach.
When we step into drama, we brandish what we currently have in our lives as second-rate, and picture a future that we decide will make us infinitely happier. Gratitude for what we currently have goes out the window.
Drama is also super reactive. It’s a process of not ‘being with’ the uncomfortable emotions that are showing up. Drama causes more drama in people around us, and inside us all, when there’s lots of drama, our cortisol levels rise and our wellbeing takes a hit.
In most situations drama doesn’t serve us at all well.
So, in future, I’ll be having more holidays in the sun, but I’ll also appreciate the wealth of great stuff available to me in the UK. I’ll recongise when drama is showing up, and continue to look for smaller, more manageable changes I can make in my life that serve me well and keep me feeling peaceful on the inside.
When we all take this approach we create more peaceful, connected communities, families and workplaces. If we can all work to move past the drama, we can move mountains.
With love, Hannah
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