Chaos is defined as disorder, confusion and unpredictability. Throughout our lives, we will be met with patches of chaos and challenge that will shift our paths and cause us to re-evaluate, help us define who we are and ultimately play the lead in our evolution.
There have been many times in my own life where confusion and disarray have been the culprit of my struggles. And in those times, I have fallen prey to getting stuck in it while, at times, letting it define me. However, over the years, with mindful practice and a strong faith, I’ve learned how to accept chaos and challenges by seeing them as some of my best lessons.
12 Concepts For Accepting Chaos
1) Chaos comes as a form of distraction.
Sometimes challenges and chaos can be the perfect form of distraction when you are about to make a significant breakthrough in life. It can often be designed to hold us back or keep us stuck. It’s important to stay the course with what is most important to us in the midst of a chaotic storm. We can’t let it pull us from the call on our life.
2) Chaos appears to see if what we want is really worth fighting for.
More often than not, madness jumps into our path to see if we are willing to fight to beat the obstacles. Chaos can cause us to understand how badly we want something and at what lengths we are ready to travel to attain that which we truly desire.
3) When chaos happens we have two choices: to get swept up into it or to flow with it.
So many times I allowed it to rule my world. I would struggle to come up for air as I drowned in a sea of worries as I obsessed and over analyzed. However, a simple change of perspective helped me to begin to flow with it. Challenges are part of the human experience. They are a form of movement in life. Flow with the chaos. Embrace it. It will eventually guide you if you let it.
4) Chaos is one of our greatest teachers.
When our world is in disorganized frenzy, turned upside down or swinging sideways, it is in those moments that we learn what we want, what we don’t want, who our true friends are, how to lean on family and it helps us to learn from our mistakes, failures and the people who hurt us.
When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what the storm is all about. –Haruki Murakami
5) The human experience would not be complete without chaos.
If we all went through life just living easy breezy we would never develop our character or grow in wisdom and maturity. They say you cannot make a diamond without a little pressure. That’s what the chaos is for. It refines us. It sharpens us. It fulfills our destiny and it completes us as humans. It’s hard to see a rainbow without weathering some thunderstorms.
6) God allows us to go through chaotic times so that we are reminded to lean on him and let his grace sustain us.
It is in our times of greatest need and despair that we turn to God, whether for the first time or the hundredth time. These dark nights of the soul are times where God, and only God, can offer us comfort, grace and show us how His ways and timing are perfect. They say it isn’t faith until faith is all you’re holding on to.
7) Where there is chaos, there is usually also a lot of passion.
When we love and we are passionate, our emotions run high. When chaos erupts, it usually enters into the scene where we are emotionally charged. It wouldn’t be chaos if we weren’t emotionally tied to the situation. It may be hectic. It may be messy. It may be hell on earth. But it’s beautiful. And it’s raw. Let it swirl around you and be what it is. It just means you’re alive.
8) Chaos would love nothing more than to move from the outside world to the inside of us.
The trick is to not let our outside environment infiltrate our inner peace. It may shake us up but in the end we get to decide how we respond. Balance isn’t something we necessarily find. It’s something we create by remembering that we may not be able to control what happens on the outside of us but we can control what happens on the inside.
9) Chaos reminds us to relish in our happiest moments. We never know when a downturn can begin.
Let the temporary madness be a reminder that mostly everything is temporary, including our happiest moments. Let chaos serve as a token for when we find ourselves smiling our biggest and feeling our best, that we should take time to really appreciate those moments. Life is always changing and it moves really fast. Remember to love with all you’ve got, laugh as much as you can and savor moments of bliss and joy. And when we’re in seasons of challenge, let us be reminded of all the good times because at one time we were there too.
10) Chaos is a chance to reconnect to ourselves. It reveals the fabric we are truly made of.
We can really learn a lot about ourselves in times of struggle and angst. We learn our strength and the test of it becomes real. We learn about surrender, letting go, acceptance and forgiveness. Usually all in conjunction with each other. We spend time pondering, analyzing and diving into the depths of our deepest thoughts. We navigate new beginnings, seek change and become open to what happens next. It’s a time for us to step forth in newfound knowledge and show the world what we’re made of.
11) Chaos is a call for stillness.
Pieces of us may be shifting, the noise may be loud and feelings may be at their strongest during a storm of life. Instead of running or screaming, we can learn to do the opposite. It is in times of stillness and quietness that we hear our inner spirit the best. We must practice stillness amid the chaos. It is there that we will be divinely guided, protected and see peace within our surroundings.
12) Miracles brew at their best under chaos. It is a precursor for miracles.
They say that all great and major life change is preceded by chaos. The perfect storm mixes all the ingredients together as it whirls around us. Miracles arise out of chaos. They are always there. Always brewing. But the chaos, uncertainty and heighten need for change allow us to rely on them, believe in them, witness them, experience them and then expect them.