Some things just bug me. You know the type of thing that gets under your skin, makes you wake up at night, makes you compose arguments, makes you crazy?
I've been fighting that feeling a bit, so I liked this quote from a Daily Slang widgit:
Snow hysteria: When the populace's fear of a snowstorm creates traffic jams and general panic way before any flakes even fall. Usually turns out to be a totally disproportionate response to a minor snowstorm.
We don't get snow hysteria in So Cal. (It was 38 degrees last night: brrrrr.)
But I fight these things: work hysteria and relationship hysteria. (These things don't require snow.)
What helped me in the quote above was this phrase: "Usually turns out to be a totally disproportionate response to a minor snowstorm."
Ahhhh... a totally disproportionate response to a minor event.
That's what I sometimes fight. I forget what the cover of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says: Don’t Panic!
Just thinking that my response might be totally disproportionate helped me get a bit more perspective and a bit more relaxed, less hysterical.
Note to self: Beware of allowing minor fears escalate into a disproportionate response of panic and mild hysteria. Beware of snow hysteria and its look-a-like cousins.
hm. do i ever know this one.
ReplyDeleteHow often have i had a typhoon-sized reaction to a spring-shower-sized problem.
Great reminder.
Don't Panic! (nice reference)
I used to be far worse at this than I am now. Many years ago I passed a church with a notice outside. It said something like "Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday". And then, to my amazement, a week or so later, I saw another church notice in a different town that said "What did you worry about this time last week, last month, last year." I have never forgotten the co-incidence of those two notices and the importance of the lesson therein.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, when anything threatens to swamp me I think - what will I think about this next year. Will I even remember how important it semed at the time. Will it have any impact on what I'm like and where I am in a year's time. The answer is almost invariably 'No'.
I love the Hitch Hiker's reference! :) and boy is the advice you found ever true! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Thanks for the nice Christmas wishes and of course for the amazing feedback. Thank goodness for fellow bloggers! :) Hope your worries melt away... like an over rated snow storm! :)