Managing by crisis is something that all of us fall into at one point or another. How our day/week/month is going to go gets determined not by the long term plan or what would be nice, but by the defcon level of the issues that have to be handled within the time available. If you’ve ever moved, then you’ve been through this. You have this much time and this much to get done and all the dominoes have to fall in this order for things to work out. Which, of course, there’s always at least one thing that goes sideways and that’s where some of the best stories and adventures come from.
Unfortunately some people live their lives by crisis. You’d think we’d all run screaming from that scenario because who wants to be on the hamster wheel, right? And yet, if you think about it, there’s something comfortable about life by crisis because we are able to let go of some of the responsibility. If life and circumstance and things outside of our control are setting the agenda then, whew! we’re off the hook. All we can do or be expected to do is deal with whats in front of us. It’s a productive version of living a Peter Pan life. We never grow up and we substitute circumstances and logistics for our parents and surrender our responsibility for things to this bigger thing called “Shit happens.” The sleight of hand happening there is that these people are choosing to live by crisis and so setting up the crisis situations all the time. They’re ignoring anything proactive that they might do to resolve a situation everyone can see coming a mile way and steadfastly being passive where a bit of action would prevent a situation from becoming a crisis. They want it to become a crisis so the responsibility for the situation is beyond their control.
You’d be amazed at how many people follow their paths through crisis management as well. They will talk about how much they want something and when the other person points out that they can have it by doing such and such they say “I know I need to, but…” Rather than have their actions match their words, they want “the universe” to force them into doing what is hard or scary or just too much by creating a crisis they then have to resolve. Problem solved because if the universe makes them do it then they will. When the sign comes, the angels command it, their guides say it in a way that can’t be avoided, when the situation becomes so toxic the other person moves first, then they will say “See, it’s all come to a head. Now it’s time!” And they will do what they’ve always been able to do, do it well, and all without being responsible for the path they asked to walk. Which just seems exhausting and a huge amount of energy wasted that could otherwise be put to enjoying an amazing life. Is there a place where you’re waiting for an event to push you into action?
