July 30, 2013 - Written by: Yazmin Joy

When You’re Faced with Challenges… Do Nothing

Their beady little bodies scurried around frantically. I stood, startled at the unexpected company of 300 ants emerging from a tiny crack in the fireplace. And more were coming.

‘We’re under attack! Zip up your clothes. Seal that marmalade. Conceal those Ferrero Rocher – that’ll be the first thing they’ll go for – I just know it! What do I do? WHAT DO I DOOOOO!!!’ I began unwrapping a couple of Ferrero Rocher – just to calm myself, you know.

I really didn’t want to hurt the little buggers but suddenly being engulfed by an army of insects had got me in a bit of a panic. I’d seen those shows, ‘When Insects Attack’ or whatever they’re called. I started towards the kitchen cupboard. Ant spray.

My mum appeared in the doorway, no doubt, to find out why on earth I was running around like a headless chicken. She calmly inspected the ants.

‘Just leave them.’

‘Are you mad? There’s an infestation!’

‘Trust me. Something has disturbed their nest. Leave them and they will go away.’

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I was unconvinced but I really didn’t want to be responsible for a massacre so I put down the spray and left them to it.

…I think human beings have a hard time leaving shit alone. Especially things we don’t understand. We want instant solutions to the unexpected challenges/inconveniences of life. In a very small way I learnt a lesson that if I just walk away from a situation it will get resolved. I mean how does that work? My brain finds this difficult to master. And yet it’s often true.

There is a lot of emphasis on action. If something goes wrong we must act. Do something. If I had annihilated the ant colony that afternoon I would have aggravated the nest further. I would have had to cleaned up the mess and I would have felt guilty. My actions would have just made the situation worse.

We want to have control over our lives and our surroundings. Many of my close friends are going through challenging times, their lives have spiralled out of control. Sometimes my own life feels out of control. Like I’m juggling a million balls all at once.

But, I am learning, sometimes we must dicipline ourselves to be still amidst chaos. Do nothing.

‘When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.’ Corrie Ten Boom (1892-1983)

For those who haven’t heard of Corrie, she was an incredibly brave woman who, along with her family, helped save about 800 Jews from the holocaust, before being caught out and detained herself in the Ravensbruck death camp. Miraculously she was released and later discovered this was due to a clerical error.

What an amazing woman hey? She was brave and rarely took the back seat. But what she also recognized is sometimes you just gotta sit still. I think in our day to day lives we should give ourselves the permission to leave situations alone.

A few hours later I returned to the spot when I had first spotted the ant colony. And you know what? They were gone. Not one ant in sight. My mum was right. She knew what I have get to learn, that things have a way of sorting itself out.

Have a great week peeps!