Accentuate the Positive #1 Pause

Chicagoist journalist and blogger Smussyolay tagged me with a meme of 5 things I do to stay positive. While writing it I discovered I needed to write it in more than one post. So here's the first thing:

Pause

After my initial anxiety / panic / agoraphobia thing I met with a therapist twice.

I have no interest in Freudian / Jungian talk therapy so I was reluctant to go. There's also a stigma about therapy (at least in law enforcement). I was surprised and happy that instead of asking me about my relationship with my parents (which is just fine) he filled me in on tricks to manage panic attacks and stress in general. Tune up. Come back if you need me but otherwise have a nice life. Good deal.

The best piece of advice he gave me was this:

If you rushing along in traffic and the light turns red, it's easy to get all angry and frustrated about being delayed. Instead, take it as a forced opportunity to pause and look around.

I can certainly get all worked up about things like getting stuck in traffic or being late or whatever but to what purpose? It makes no difference. The light is going to be red for as long as the light is going to be red.

Add to this the fact that every juggling trick I know involves a pause. Right throw, left throw, right throw, left throw, High Right Throw (creating a pause in the flow), do something flashy, left throw, right throw. Lather, rinse, repeat. It works every time.

Being pause-itive makes my outlook so much more positive.

Photos: pause = me
Red Light