So, the boyfriend calls, says he’s going hiking with his buddies for a week, cancels his date with you and says he hopes you won’t be mad.
Or the bank calls and says you’re overdrawn, and you don’t know how that can be. You’ve been trying to carefully watch your deposits and checks. You’ve gone out of your way not to mess up. This can’t be right!
What do you do when life seems to force you to react? You can panic, become anxious, yell, and respond with a counterattack. But that probably won’t solve the problem. And it may turn things into a brawl.
Or you can calm down. Breathe deeply. Tell yourself to relax. Say as little as possible, if that’s possible, while you’re upset and disturbed. If a problem or disturbance that’s not fair interrupts your life, try responding by saying hmmm. Then calm down and decide what you need to do.
God, help me start sailing through life with more ease by learning to relax and let life be.
I have been out of town for a long 4-day weekend and I have a ton of things that I need to get done over the next few days. I am busy as it is and the taking the long 4-day weekend just added to the workload. I worked as diligently as possible yesterday and I was getting a lot done. However, even though I was working swiftly, I was not grounded and I was not totally thinking clearly. I left my house to run an errand and of course, right when I left the house, the sky got dark and a monsoon moved in. Once I got back home, the rain was pouring and wind was gusting. I put my phone in my pocket and ran into the house as fast as possible. Once inside, I went back to work on my computer. I was not able to find my phone and I could not figure out where I left it? Maybe I left it in the car? I couldn’t remember. So I was going to wait until the monsoon passed to go out to my car. Thirty minutes later, after the monsoon has passed, I heard a knock at my front door. A neighbor found my phone on the ground in a puddle of water. What am I going to do know?! I really need my phone. Needless to say, I am even more anxious and I need prayer and meditation, yoga, and a 12-step meeting to help me calm down. Being anxious, being reactive, and being in a state of panic never pays off. If I was calm and grounded, maybe I would not have rushed into the house so quickly and maybe I would not have dropped my phone? Maybe I would have realized that I might have dropped my phone outside and maybe I would have caught it before too late? I am feeling pretty calm and grounded now. This after doing yoga and meditating. I will also be hitting a 12-step meeting tonight. Being grounded and thinking clearly is one of my favorite things about sobriety. However, I need to remember that when things happen that can throw me for a loop, I just need to calm down, breathe, and take the next indicated action step.
