Beatrix's Box Vol. 2

Overcoming Anxiety with an Allegory from Kill Bill 2

What do you do when you feel the tension rising? Do you have a go-to prayer or mantra that helps you deal with anxiety?

In Wednesday’s newsletter we drew a Writer’s Allegory from the scene titled, Pine Box, in chapter seven of the Quentin Tarantino’s movie, Kill Bill Vol. 2. Here it is, if you missed it😉

When we left Beatrix, she was buried 6-ft below the cemetery ground. It’s pitch black because she’s knocked out the flashlight she has, by banging it on the ceiling of the pine coffin she’s buried in. Her hands and feet were bound, and she’s in full panic mode!

Miraculously the flashlight comes back on, just as she is at the brink of a total meltdown. The Bride then has a single thought run across her mind, a memory— Something from the past pulls her out of the Pine Box.

This memory is of something she learned when becoming a Kung-Fu master. As it turns out, our protagonist already possessed the knowledge to get out of the Pine Box. She just couldn’t access it, because anxiety had taken control of her.

How often in life are each of us buried alive in our on Pine Box of Anxiety?

R-E-L-A-X, Relax. I use it all the time. I learned this mantra from Aaron Rogers. I’m not a Packers fan, but if you are I bet you remember this scene well…

It was September of 2014, Mr Rogers and his Packers had gotten off to a rough 1 & 2 start. His completion percentage was at the lowest of his career. He’d thrown for less than 200 yards, in the two of the first three games. ESPN and the Packer Nation were freaking out! But not Mr Rogers. Aaron gave the Packer fans a simple, yet profound message-

"Five letters here just for everybody out there in Packer-land: R-E-L-A-X," Rodgers said on his ESPN Milwaukee radio show. "Relax. We're going to be OK."

When to everyone else, the entire world seemed to be crumbling around him, Aaron Rogers was cool and collected. He knew what he could do, and was confident in his ability. “R-E-L-A-X,” he said, "We're going to be OK.” The Packers ended up tied for the best record in the league that year with 12 wins, just 4 losses, and an NFC North Division Championship.

The thing is, I remember this story completely differently— when I was retelling it to my son last night, I remembered it being the playoffs. Btw— if my daughter chooses you as a life partner, you’re not an ‘in-law’. Anyway, in my recollection it was a mad scene— Mr Rogers was being bombarded with questions from an unruly mob of reporters. When suddenly he raised both of his hands in a mock surrender, and said, "Five letters here just for everybody out there in Packer-land: R-E-L-A-X, Relax. We're going to be OK."

Now I don’t know why it is that I’ve sensationalized this story in my mind, but I think maybe it’s because that’s what the phrase does for me— When life is a mad scene, when I’m being bombarded with anxiety from an unruly mob of things I can’t control, that’s when I invoke Aaron’s mantra to R-E-L-A-X, Relax. It’s going to be OK.

There are lots of times when it would do us all a great deal of good to remember those five letters, R-E-L-A-X.

All that Kung-Fu training would have been completely useless to Beatrix, had she not been able to calm herself down enough to remember it. If she’d have continued to panic for another minute or so she’d have likely suffocated to death. But she didn’t, she relaxed. Only then she was able to focus on a solution.

So if like me you’re not a Kung-Fu master— the next time you feel anxious tension building, try repeating Aaron’s mantra, R-E-L-A-X, Relax. R-E-L-A-X, Relax. I repeat, R-E-L-A-X, Relax. It's going to be OK.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a ❤, and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. What do you do to combat anxiety?

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