Do you ever get that sinking feeling…where it feels like you’re drowning and emotionally overwhelmed? Sometimes also called Emotional Flooding.
When you’re in that intensity of overwhelm and it can feel like you’re drowning in emotions and it can be a struggle to ‘breathe’. In that emotional flooding state, your mind is being flooded with some of the toughest, most challenging emotions:
Fear
Panic
Catastrophizing
From Emotional Flooding to Emotional Resilience
These are NOT states of emotional resilience! They’re not states of resourcefulness, of problem solving, they’re not a solution orientated state.
When you’re drowning in emotional flooding, even obvious solutions won’t be visible to you.
What do I mean? Come with me back to March, 1977…
Mum and Dad had brought me (11yrs old), my 2 sisters and our 5 cousins for a fun afternoon in rowing boats at the boating lake at Regents Park in London.
2 adults, 8 kids, 4 boats, 8 oars.
It was chaos!
My Dad was in charge.
Urgently shouting instructions from his boat (with the littlest kiddos) to the other boats in our party which were bumping into each other, getting oars muddled up or going round and round in circles.
Me and my older sister were the more experienced of the rowers. Each of us had one of the oars of one of the boats. Experience and age sprinkled throughout the boats.
Then Bobbit dropped her oar. She was 8yrs old and had had enough of trying to wield the heavy wooden thing.
I watched as it slid from her grip and floated off in the water.
“Arghhh!” Bobbit shrieked in frustration and stood up unsteadily, trying to retrieve the lost oar.
With Bobbit’s unwise actions, the boat swayed beneath her, she lost her footing and KERSPLASH!!
She was splat in the water.
“Heeeeelp!!!” Bobbit spluttered, flailing her arms around as she disappeared underwater with much splashing and spluttering
“Heeeeelp!!!” she went under again.
My Dad, in one heroic gesture leapt to his feet and dived out of his rowing boat to rescue his 8 year old niece who was about to go under for a third time.
What happened next surprised us all.
Dad hit his head on the bottom of the lake.
He surfaced, red faced and furious. Pond weed dripping from his glasses which were slightly skewed on his soaking wet face.
Bobbit was sinking again.
“Stand up” said Dad to Bobbit.
“STAND UP!”
He grabbed her shoulder before she could sink underwater again.
He pulled her to her feet.
That was when we realised that the water in the lake was less than 3 feet deep.
Standing, the water only came to just above her tummy.
Even though a minute before, Bobbit had been drowning, the ‘new information’ that my Dad discovered was that simply by putting her feet on the floor and standing on her own 2 feet, Bobbit’s head would be fully above water and the danger of drowning was completely gone.
The awful, life threatening danger didn’t have to be a danger at all.
Because Bobbit was in fear and panic, she didn’t realise the choices that she had.
She believed she was going to drown – and she MIGHT have, without Dad’s guidance.
Sometimes, when we’re caught up in the intensity of the moment, fear and panic running through us…
When we’re experiencing this emotional flooding, It can feel like we have no choice. It can feel that there is NO other choice available.
In week 3 of the Emotional Resilience Bootcamp, participants get to say goodbye to the stress and hopelessness of life being dictated by fear, panic, and external forces and embrace the ease of choosing what genuinely matters, paving the way for a life smooth flowing with joy and fulfillment.
Imagine how confidence, possibilities, and inner strength can become your constant companions with me beside you in the 6 week Bootcamp.
On the way home from Regents Park Boating lake, back in March 1977, we all had to give a piece of dry clothing to Dad or Bobbit, as their clothes were wet and dripping, soaked through.
In what area of your life right now does it feel like you’re drowning?
What’s giving you that sinking feeling right now?
In the 6 weeks Emotional Resilience Bootcamp, I share the tools and support structure that lets you surprise yourself with your own inner strength. Each week, you get to empower yourself even more, discovering how firmly and confidently you can stand, with a little ‘new information’ and guidance from me.
This is your space, and you’re ready for your next choice.
Niki x
Niki Duffy ❤️ Choosing For Today
PS. Bobbit was my young cousin’s family nickname because she used to have cute curls in her hair that would bob about as she moved her head. You can bob over to discover more about the Emotional Resilience Bootcamp here.
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