Thursday, February 27, 2014

Thursday February 27, 2014


 

This life offers so many little frustrations; those are generally the ones that get under my skin. Work dramas, when none is really necessary, family dramas and the little things: a cold, a minor injury, my coffee is cold or, the newest, the weight I lost is piling back on and the shirt that disappeared, reappeared and had to be driven to me, doesn’t fit (I truly did let this ruin my early morning this week.)

Why do we let the little things get to us so badly? I have read that scientists believe it is something held over from our old “fight or flight response), that we don’t have tigers and bears to look out for anymore, so we have all this pent up anxiety with no way to direct it. So we suppress this ingrained anxiety and either deal with it with things like exercise or meditation, or we let it blow up at the little things in life (like a stubbed toe).

We also deal with this by using and sometimes abusing drugs, alcohol or other even more destructive behaviors to deal with pent up energy. It sometimes just seems easier to deal with it that way than actually being positive. Like when you get a wrong number and it is obviously a collection agency looking for someone, don’t you just want to jump through your phone and choke them? Two things: that is just what happened during my writing of this paragraph, second, I used to be a collections manager for the branch of a finance company… I used to do that for a living and instead of being understanding, my knee jerk reaction is to be rude to the person (I wasn’t by the way, but I wanted to be).

That is what I need to work on, that is what I need to change. Those initial, snap judgment thoughts are what part of what are holding me back. I can blame it on genetics or having an “Irish” temper, but in reality it is simply just me. Part of who I am; that drives me crazy, drives my wife crazy and something I don’t want my son to see in me.

My steps to correct it long term is exercise and meditation and prayer for focus, but the short term, breathe!!! Before I let that “fight or flight” response kick in, take a breath let rational and calm thoughts enter first. I won’t play work politics. Every job has them, I won’t be a part. I will do my job and be kind and friendly. No matter how much this will drive some of my co-workers crazy. I almost fell into this trap this week; I felt my pulse and anxiety rise. Why bring this on myself, when it is totally unwelcome and unneeded in my life.

​Life successes and victories don’t lie in Facebook worthy occasions, but in the little battles within us. Taking those battles and taking the fight out of them, one deep breath at a time.

Pop Culture Happiness for me this week:


1.
    My favorite TV show Dallas is back for another season… and with it JR Ewing bourbon:http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2014/02/j-r-ewing-bourbon-created-in-honour-of-dallas-return/

 

 

                

 

 

 

 4.
     Finally, a book recommendation: “Safe Area Gorazde” is a journalistic graphic novel about the Bosnian War that was published in 2000. If you ever want to get an understanding the helplessness people can feel while war is raging around them, this is a powerful look.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Area_Gora%C5%BEde

 

 

 

Peace and hair grease….

 

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