Damn, I have a giant zit. I have had it for three days now and it does
not appear to be getting any smaller. If
it were any bigger, in fact, it could declare for secession. And I would welcome that, because it is
disgusting, disfiguring and all I can see when I look in the mirror. Plus a little tender, you know? I am no teenager and I declare this zit to
be “off sides”. I cannot be dealing with
middle-aged neck and acne at the same time!
It is causing a rip in the space/time continuum of my life and nothing
will feel quite right again until it is completely gone.
HA HA HA HA, you probably think I am joking, but
sadly…I am not. I can be pretty Zen and
wise when my skin is clear, but WHOO!
This blemish has put my spiritual evolution on the backburner, you
know? So the question is, WHY IS
THAT? Why do we day after day and week
after week deal with crisis after crisis—illness, death, divorce, job loss,
money problems, natural disasters, unnatural disasters—and we keep our feet on
the ground, our eye on the ball and persevere? But a broken dish, a dropped call, a GIANT
ZIT…these can derail us and send us into a tailspin. Does any of this sound familiar yet? You get through a giant presentation with
flying colors, and then snap at your kid for spilling cheerios? Because stress is stress is stress and stress
will OUT ITSELF, whether we like it or not.
Sometimes in the form of a GIANT ZIT.
We all have coping mechanisms and crisis modes, ways
in which we get through those things we absolutely, crucially have to get
through…and we all have ways which we retreat, lick our wounds, duck and
cover. In general, this is a GOOD thing,
and part and parcel of the grand charade we call “being human”. But I recently read about a study
that was done which concluded, in part, that we humans have a somewhat limited
supply of what we would call “self-discipline” and that is why the containment
of one addiction often leads to the blossoming of another. We are simply not hard-wired for a monkish
existence. We need to get our FREAK ON,
one way or another. So I say, this
applies to stress as well. There is only
so much we can take before something’s gotta give. In my case, it is the integrity of my pores.
So the next time you are absolutely jonesing for a
piece of chocolate cake, remember the 400 things you did NOT let yourself have
and the 400 ways you exercised self-discipline and realize—one piece of cake
isn’t going to kill you. And next time a
broken shoelace reduces you to tears, remember all the times you were strong
for the people you loved when they needed you to be and go ahead, have a good
cry. And the next time you have a GIANT
ZIT and want to obsess over it, remember how many things—hurt feelings, broken
dreams, irreparable relationships--you have had to let go over the years, and
hang on. Hang on to that stupid zit for
dear life. Because if we are going to
manage all of the big stuff that gets thrown at us every day, we sometimes need
a good old-fashioned distraction. Like a
giant zit. But I highly recommend a
great book or movie, if that will work instead.
Less disfiguring, you know?
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