No life is always pleasant and easy. Life always has seasons, the heat of summer and the darkness of winter (from a Central European perspective). It is like rivers or oceans, there are currents, waves, floods, tides, and storms.
For many people, it seems to be a good goal in life not to be exposed to these unstable natural forces. They want control and stability in life. An understandable goal. People try to build something in life that can give them stability. This is often linked to the hope that a stable state will make them happy and satisfied or even fulfilled forever. But we ourselves are also part of nature, and the movement of the seas and seasons lives in us in a certain way. When “stable states” prevent us from flowing with life (e.g., changes that would be necessary), they can also become a prison. They then form a dam within us, behind which masses of water accumulate and create pressure. Pressure that we then feel very realistically within ourselves. A small side note: there are also people who, by their very nature, cannot find satisfaction in “stable conditions” because nowadays this is often associated with self-exploitation and even self-sacrifice.
Some people are stuck in such stalemate situations for years and suffer constantly because they cannot find a way out.
The suffering can be felt unconsciously or subtly, or it can be experienced acutely and consciously. Ultimately, ignorance and inaction in the face of problems can lead to mental or physical illness. A final wake-up call for the soul. Sometimes, however, life also offers other opportunities to break free from our chains. Crisis situations that pull us out of our daily routine and push us out of our comfort zone are like a helping hand extended by fate.
If we take this hand, we have the chance to tear down the walls of our inner prison or open a door that leads us down a new path. In such circumstances, clinging to old patterns because it is most comfortable to look away is like not going to the doctor when you feel ill because you are afraid that the doctor might find the cause. (There are certainly people who do precisely that) The diagnosis can indeed be shocking, and therapy can potentially be exhausting or have an uncertain outcome. And yet, a coach’s advice would always be: Look at it, take the chance! It’s worth it.
In the winter of 2025, questions about my future path and challenging external circumstances prompted me to travel to northern Iceland for a six-week kind of retreat. Leaving my familiar surroundings, being torn away from my everyday routine, the remote location outside of villages and towns, the challenging daily hikes on icy paths and crusty snow had an effect. It was a strenuous time, and no one in my surroundings really understood how I could do such a thing (“You’re crazy to travel to Iceland in winter”). In fact, the journey was hampered several times by flight and bus cancellations due to storms and impassable roads, and I didn’t necessarily find my time there relaxing, but rather challenging. But life isn’t about everything always having to be “easy” in order to be meaningful. When the noise of everyday life becomes too loud to hear the answers, sometimes you have to set out to find the eye of the storm.
