The buffer zone

This post is about the buffer zone, the transition period, the waiting room. It is about the place you are that will lead you to something else, but you don’t know what that is. See, everyone always says, luck smiles to those who keep trying or that the world belongs to the brave. But life isn’t that predictable and while hindsight is 20/20, if we are honest we will say that during those tough times, the times where uncertainty was lurking, the times where chaos over-powered order, stress overwhelmed us. Being unable to predict the future, feeling un-safe, feeling that nothing is set in stone is a real recipe for chronic stress and ever-present anxiety. Now, those brave ones who persisted, those hustlers who pioneered the American dream, what exactly where they going for and what exactly kept them going? Some had families to support, others had dreams to realise, others had a chip on their shoulder, others simply where following footsteps of people who led the way. Everyone of those people found a purpose or had a purpose given to them, and many times when life shows you a dead-end all you can do is just go for it. Failure is not an option. Now what happens to those of us who are loved by their family, who have a family to begin with, have a respected job, have friends who care for them? Are such people allowed to complain? How can such a life be one with any complaints at all? These 1st world problems are flooding our lives and are increasingly a real pain in the ass. Well, I guess when something is overwhelming you need to address it, 1st world problem or not. Acknowledge the challenge, compare if you want with how someone else is dealing with similar issues and feel as bad as you want to feel for yourself. It’s not going to change anything regardless of your routine of reactions; you are allowed to feel lost, to feel unfulfilled. These are signals, these are feedback, these are life and these are you. Are we machines? As far as we know we are not! Why expect of ourselves; this vulnerable, malleable to the experience and environment, biased, fragile self both physically and mentally to be as efficient as machines and also expect to be able to correct a fault as soon as it appears? Are we even listening to what our brain is saying? If we are in the buffer zone and things are unclear, we simply need to embrace that state, it is all we can do! Let’s not ignore how uncomfortable that makes us and let’s just let it sink in, try to understand it and give it time to shape itself. Allow yourself to be slow and inefficient. Expecting otherwise will lead to more disappointment and damaging of the ego which is not necessary. The buffer zone is there for a reason. The buffer zone is the zone before a breakthrough, before a light-bulb moment, before clarity, before fresh air. Accept it and just be. It will be so much easier to approach it with a more peaceful manner than just ignore it and reject it. Embrace it, give it some space and watch it bloom.