The puddle and the lake

If you throw a stone into water, it makes a ripple. 

The size of the ripple is the same, whether you throw the stone in a lake, or in a puddle. 

The difference is how much you notice it. 

If you throw a stone in a lake, the ripples take up a small amount of the total space. 

If you throw a stone in a puddle, the ripples fill up the whole puddle. 

In normal day-to-day life most of us live in world that is like a lake. Things happen that cause ripples, but they can easily be ignored because there is so much else to focus on. 

However, if our world is smaller, like a puddle, those same things are all consuming. 

During the pandemic we all went from living in a lake to living in a puddle without realising it. 

Things that we used to deal with easily now created ripples that filled our whole world. 

It was tricky because we were so used to living in a lake that we didn't realise. It made those things feel like a big deal. 

Now think about what you do when you are struggling. You probably lock down, go out less, interact with people and the world less. You effectively shrink your world into a puddle. And now there is no escape from the ripples. 

The thing to realise is that things are a lot easier to cope with if you can get a sense of perspective, and get some distraction. 

So rather than closing down when you are struggling, open up. Create more experiences not less.