The past week has probably been one of the most challenging of my life.
My husband and I have officially hit rock bottom financially. Then we had to face some scary news on Monday. I brought my son to his six-month pediatrician appointment where I got good news and scary news.
The good news is that my son is “above average” in milestones. The bad news is that he has a big head. Pretty odd, right? It is literally 1/4 inch larger than what the charts say it should be. Okay, my husband has a big head so what is the problem?
The problem is that since he was born five weeks early, more precaution has to be taken about everything. Then, the pediatrician scared the daylights out of me.
She said, “I have to send him for an MRI and since he’s moving around a lot, he’ll have to go under anesthesia. If anything is found like fluid or blood in his brain or swelling, then you’ll have to talk to a neurosurgeon.”
What?! My little guy is way too young to be going under anesthesia for one. I already had to see him with IV’s, heart monitors, and oxygen attached to him when he was born. When he was in the NICU, that was the longest and most painful week of my life.
Needless to say, I couldn’t stop thinking about everything that night but I knew I had to stay calm and be proactive. The next day, I spoke to the pediatrician and expressed how uncomfortable I felt with doing that. There are too many risks and there has to be another way.
She respected my persistence (as she has a 9 month old and couldn’t bare the idea) and called the radiologist. The radiologist told her that my son could get a CT scan, sedation free. Woo hoo! Thank you Lord! The next challenge was that I just had to take him and then wait for the results…
Here’s the part where I really needed to stay calm and find my inner joy and know that God is with my son. What sense is there to panic, lose my mind, and go crazy wondering about the unknown?
Many of us are confronted with difficult situations like this and absolutely lose our minds. When you are faced with big problems, the most valuable thing to keep in mind is that it is out of your control.
Keep it Together
There are two routes that you may have taken before:
- You hold all of your panic in and silently torture yourself.
- You panic, losing all control of your emotions.
- As a result, you make hasty or foolish decisions.
What you should do:
- Have a little cry.
- Talk to your loved ones or people who are a positive influence in your life.
- Think rationally, and work on solutions to the problem.
There will always be reasons to panic in life. There will always be crisis. You must learn to keep your cool. Don’t fake it and act like nothing is wrong. Don’t ignore the problem.
On the flip side, don’t go nuts. Just deal with the problem and know that sometimes, things are out of your control. It will work out exactly the way that it should.
In my situation, yes I was very concerned about my son. I was eager to hear the results. I just didn’t drive my mind crazy thinking of the worst-case scenarios. I’ve learned that those are ALWAYS a waste of time. Instead, I prayed.
If I did get a negative phone call, I would deal with it then. I could only stay calm, keep life going, and continue taking care of my son to the best of my abilities until I got the answer.
If I lose control of my emotions, my husband and son will be negatively affected. I won’t be productive and I’ll hurt my family rather than help.
My mantra is:
Everything is in God’s hands.
Things are not always in my control.
And guess what? It always works out for the better. I have faith that things will be all right no matter what. I got the phone call yesterday saying that my son is perfectly healthy and there is nothing wrong with his brain, thank God. What would have happened if I panicked? It would have been for nothing.
Life keeps going on regardless of the problems you have. Things still have to be taken care of. Your family still needs you. So exercise keeping it together, letting go, keeping the faith and letting the Universe take care of things for you sometimes.
In the comments below, please share what makes you lose it and insights from today’s post.
Many, many people need to hear about this one so share it puhleez!
I’ve been working on a lot of juicy stuff for you so I will be talking to you next week. Stay motivated and empowered. 😎
To no more meltdowns,
Iviana
