Our day-to-day challenges are sometimes overwhelming. As we realize we are losing control of the situation, we throw our hands up and cry, "why me?" This may be a time to pause, remove ourselves, and reflect on what is really going on. Is the situation truly as bad as it seems? Or are we catastrophizing and making it worse in our own minds? Often problems resolve themselves and are quickly forgotten, with or without our panic.
It can be helpful to consider the challenges other people have faced. Challenges which didn't turn out so well. We might ask ourselves how the captain of the Titanic felt when he came to the realization that he had lost control of the situation. Few of us will ever face that sort of challenge. Perhaps we should keep this image in mind when things get chaotic in our own lives. The image of that sinking ship helps us maintain perspective. From there we can approach our own problems with a different frame of mind - an understanding that things could have been much worse.
[Image credit: Public Domain, National Maritime Museum]