Have you ever stopped in the midst of complete chaos and wondered which way’s up? Sometimes this fast pace can bring exhilaration, other times it’s more like trepidation!

During these moments, days or even lengthy periods when it feels as if our boat’s capsized, it can be really challenging to determine a suitable response. It can be like bumbling through fog, straining towards a shadow that seems a protected place to rest, only to find it’s shreds of rotten canvass caught up in a tree. Doubt can steal confidence and confusion can creep over us, such that a solution seems nearly impossible, and it can be tempting to wallow in our circumstances.

What to do?

I’m not sure why, but these contemplations puddled through my mind recently. Perhaps it was my state of post-trailer filming exhaustion (if you haven’t been following me on Facebook, you may have missed that some friends and I have been filming a book trailer); perhaps it was reflecting on the myriad of social convolutions being bandied about by the media; perhaps it was too much coffee near bedtime keeping me in a semi-lucid state well into the night. Whatever the cause, confusion stood out like a crippling enemy. It made me think of a ship lurching in heavy seas, where clouds cover the sky and there are no visible landmarks in sight.

In this day and age of GPS devices, there is the obvious benefit of being able to acquire one’s bearings without a view of celestial bodies – but how do we know if we have adequate seaway to best determine our response if we don’t have a suitable chart? And that’s where my thoughts stuck.

How do we focus on what we DO know – not the overwhelming uncertainty of what we don’t?

In life we can find our bearings a little easier than a ship on the ocean in the clutches of a storm. We are right where we’re at – and just a little thinking will determine fairly swiftly the nature of our position. (Whether this is pleasant thinking or not is another matter!) It may become swiftly apparent that we don’t have an adequate chart to find our way through the storm – or even a clear line of sight to guide us, but we can identify the things we do know. Lighthouses.

Such lighthouses could be something like finding a wise friend from whom we can seek advice. Support networks or belief systems we’ve previously shunned may also offer a lifeline. We could recognise self-behaviours that have let us down and determine to change them. Even choosing to get up and do each day can be a triumph for people who are in a very difficult place.

In each storm of life we need to find a lighthouse that outshines the height of the waves and fury of the wind. It may require numerous lighthouses and a lengthy voyage, but if we set our course by them, we can hasten our passage to a safe harbour.