Flopping Fish In-sight

for feeling right again

 

The Story

There have been so many times in my life that I have felt like a flopping fish. Do you know what I am talking about? Like someone had swept me out of water, thrown me on the dock, and left me there to flop around and gasp for air. Oh, it's awful, especially for those of us who have no one to tell us what direction to flop. I have many people in my life who could and would have an opinion about how to get back in the water; but none who I would trust enough to know which way to go.

Like now. My life over the last few months has been the epitome of flopping fish. I left California out of necessity, but also knowing I had no plan in Washington. And, you see, I'm a planner. So when I arrived, no plan, and ended up at my sister's place, then my parents', without a "real" job to pay the bills, a home of my own, or any pride left to speak of...I was a flopping fish in the middle of an arctic sea. I flopped and I flopped, from fall into winter, a continuation of what felt like years of flopping. But in writing this now, I am swimming.

I found my right. But it took flopping, gasping, finding, and allowing. It took letting go of the how and just trusting that, with enough flopping in a direction that felt right, I would end up in the ocean. And I did.

The In-sight

This in-sight can be used two ways. You can either envision someone picking you up and placing you kindly back in the water again. Or, what I think is more valuable in the long run, you can see yourself flopping your own way off the dock. People can help you and save you, but YOU are even more powerful than anyone who might assist.

Plunk, you hit cool water. Take that refreshing deep breath. Now that you can breathe, you can be you again. You're not flopping anymore. You know what to do. You're gliding smoothly through the water, through the ripples, through the waves. You can even ride out the storm.

Whether you have had help or not, the idea is the same. You will find water. You will escape the hot dock. Persistence. It’s inevitable. You will find your way, flopping or not, to wherever you want to be.

Variations, Tips, and Possibilities

  • I just flopped into this. I really did. I floundered for so long, thinking that I wasn’t good enough, that I wasn’t choosing the right direction. I’ve done this way too many times to count, probably because I have way too many things going on. But I flopped and I flopped and, eventually, I realized, my cool water was sitting right beside me. All I had to do was steel myself up a little bit for the shock of the cool. But I was finally ready. It took me a while - a very long while - to get to that point, that realization. But here I am, having flopped myself right into your world. Hello. And you’ll get there.

  • Another variation to this in-sight could also be an in-sight of its own; but for now, we’ll use it here. It’s the same idea as dance like no one is watching. But the visual is great. Google Elaine dancing on the sitcom “Seinfeld” or Carlton on “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (or any number of other examples of seemingly awkward dancers). You know what’s great about these? They are famous. And they are famous for being great. And unique. And special. And funny. They are, literally, dancing to the beat of their own drum and letting go, then finding their cool water, or their own dance floor. Thus if you cannot find your sea to flop into, make your own. There you go.

  • Also try the Penguin on Land In-sight.