Somehow being nine years old made handling chaos so much easier. But adults are capable of it, too!
When I was in elementary school, my brain could not wrap itself around the idea of why adults stressed themselves out so frequently.
Why a constant clanging of toys, my one sister singing off-key at the top of her lungs, the other crying because — it was not time for a snack at 9:45 AM --- and the other deciding it was time for her piano recital of hot cross buns RIGHT NOW — could possibly be a reason to overwhelm my parents. It was just sound — just noise going on. Right?
Adults totally stressed themselves out. I was convinced of it.
Looking back, I see how things were a little out of control with so much chaos and so many children all creating such sounds, and how that could totally induce stress. (So sorry, mom…)
As a young adult, it seems the table has turned. Scratching my head, I now wonder how on earth was I able to simply view the chaos around me as noise? How on earth was I not overwhelmed by that all?
How it didn't control me, and I was able to go about my day in the middle of truly a war-zone, where my sisters and I relentlessly were being little kids. How the noise didn't affect me. Didn't control me. How could nine year old Abby process noise was just that…noise…and it didn't have to have a hold on her?
Since when did being an adult mean the chaos had to have such a strong grip us to the point of being overwhelmed because the chaos never seems to stop?
And so, this is the challenge for the rest of this month. To acknowledge the noise and the chaos around myself, as chaos. Call it for what it is. It doesn't have to escalate beyond what it is. It doesn't have to grip you. Let it exist as it is and for what it is, without trying to take control.
But here's the tricky part — to continue to live and actually thrive, without its clingy and suffocating hold taking over again. A true challenge! A call to trust the faithful Creator of the one who sustains all things, amidst the noise impossible to ignore — yet choosing not to focus on it.
Just like how nine year old Abby did indeed hear the clanging, the whining, the constant off-note piano playing simultaneously — yet confidently did what she set out to do. Moving forward with her day, not blindly unaware of her surroundings — simply unfazed by them. Living everyday life boldly. Securely. Joyfully.
Who said being older always made you wiser?
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