Anchoring

Life is an emotional roller coaster. How do we find an anchor in difficult times?

“My working day was already over. However, I went back to the building site to check something. And I fell 10 metres into a lift shaft. This accident completely thwarted my life. I had just turned 40.

And there I was – paralysed and almost blind – in a situation that was difficult for me to cope with. To be perfectly honest, it was no longer a life worth living for me. I expressed my feelings and thoughts about suicide, which resulted in many, many discussions and ultimately in a change in me.

It's still not always easy, even four years after the accident. However, I accepted the challenge. My children and my wife motivate me to keep going. And that's exactly what I do. Every day.”

Every day, pastoral care worker Ursula Walti and psychologist Nadira Hotz encounter people whose life has been ruptured. Together with them, they start to look for what’s good for the soul. The two experts explain how a spark of hope can help confidence start to grow in patients again.

An anchor serves to hold a ship in place on the seabed so that it cannot drift away in a storm, thus providing safety for the people on board. The symbol of the anchor stands for stability and consistency. When things get stormy in life, strong and secure anchoring is all the more important.

Sailors used to have anchors tattooed on their arms as a sign of having crossed the Atlantic. Later, the meaning of the anchor changed to love, in particular love of one's home harbour. Today, the anchor is still seen as a sign of love, faithfulness, stability and strong ties.

In early Christianity, the symbol of the anchor stood for hope for the future. The anchor represents a happy and enlightened life. In Ancient Rome, the anchor was a symbol of faith.