Turn Down the Panic!

'Twas the time before Christmas, and all through the land
Everyone was bustling including the mice!

It just seems like the crazy time when everything has to be finished before the year closes off. Everyone is working at 110% effort to meet their deadlines so stress levels are at an all-time high. You can almost smell the volatility in the air. Incidents that would previously have gone by almost unnoticed, ignite the situation into a raging inferno. Turn the panic level down. Dial the temperature down. Focus on what needs to be done and execute it with a logical systemic approach. If things arise that interfere with your plan, assess their importance and put it into the appropriate action container:

1. Pass it, 
2. Park it, 
3. Process it.

Letting the originator of the interference know, exactly where they are in the priority queue is very important too. They can then decide if they need to take alternative action with their request and/or back away from you very, very slowing without making any sudden movements!

Turn down the panic! How great would it be to start your holiday break already feeling calm? It's usually only when you are well into the second week of leave that the blood returns to the burnt out shell and you start to feel relaxed and human again. But then it's into Christmas, New Year's parties and suddenly you're back at work again. I'm not saying, take your foot off the gas and cruise to end of year but rather, keep up the effort, but in a calm and structured manner. 

I can hear the snorts and jeers out there. 

"You have no idea what I have to get through in the time available!" 

You are probably right, but then again you have no idea what I have to get through too! 

The best attack is with well laid plans. Organisation and structure. Turn down the panic! It doesn't assist in achieving your goals in any way. Your calm and demonstration of organisation could actually assist those working around you to do the same. Calmness is as contagious as panic! Choose what you want to spread. #TurnDownThePanic

Listen To Your Voice

As a non-confrontational sort, I tend to avoid conflict as much as possible. I prefer to try and please everyone, even to the point of my own detriment. This week, I've had this thought of writing about tough choices we have to make and how many different voices we listen to in order to make the final choice. Yesterday I happened to be clearing out emails and happened across a blog that has been hovering in my inbox for a while. It was titled "Discover The Power of Your Voice" by Allison Vesterfelt. I thought it would be an article about confidence, public speaking and finding your literal voice! What it was, was actually echoing my current writing thoughts of decision making and empowering your own voice such that you can make your own decisions and be happy with it. (I encourage you to read her article as it is more than just my one pager and I think everyone could get something out of it.)

"How can you possibly measure your success or progress or integrity in life if you’re measuring by other people’s standards? The measuring stick is constantly shifting, depending on your circumstances, your situation, your surroundings, or who is doing the asking. You feel pulled between your boss, your mom, your friends, your spouse, and maybe, just maybe, some very quiet, inner-voice. And at some point, you will let one or more of them down. You cannot possibly meet so many expectations." - Allison Vesterfelt

How true is that! All those voices "helping" and "guiding" us to make a decision but ultimately it is you who has to live with the outcome. Perhaps we should be giving a bit more authority to our own voice. I know I am facing decisions that has the potential to affect a number of people and boy do I have a lot of people's voices in my head making their point of view and opinions known. Even in my mind, I still try to keep the peace and try and see how I could satisfy the requirements of every one of those voices. I realise now that it is impossible to do that, all the time. I am going to sacrifice myself and my power to decide what I want for myself and my family. I won't (can't) ignore the voices completely, and there will be times (many) when I will need an external opinion or a firm direction-shifting rebuke to keep me going in the right track, but I have my own voice and I trust what it tells me.

How well do you know yourself? It seems a bit of a strange question but is quite pivotal in understanding how you deal with situations and why your inner voice is speaking to you as it does.

According to your voice, are you someone who always has things happen to you or do you take it on the chin and say to yourself, "Let's deal with it!" ?

If you believe things just happen to you, there is an underlying belief that you have no control of circumstances, whereas the opposite also holds true. If you make life happen, you are in control.
How you react to situations is also within your control. You have the power to change your response to situations. You can choose to remain in a place of anger, frustration or depression or you can accept your lot and decide to make the most of your circumstances and plan your way forward.

Listen to your voice and learn to actually hear what it is telling you. You must process what it is saying. If what it is telling you, is not going to improve your situation, rethink it. Re-program it to take out the negativity. Eventually you will learn to trust that what it is telling you, is the best for you and it will be.

Intolerant of Tolerance

I am becoming rather alarmed at the response to the graphic social media posts of the images of criminals gunned down in the pursuit of their "trade". The posts are ones of cheers and celebration. I don't know what bothers me more, the increasing number of these posts or the fact that I am cheering and celebrating with each one. I can look at the image of a man's lifeless body, lying in a pool of blood and feel absolutely no compassion for him. I feel almost a sense of relief that there is one less criminal out there that could threaten the lives of my loved ones. How have I (we) degenerated to such an extent that I am celebrating and even desiring more death, even if it is of the criminal persuasion. I am being brutally honest here but in the light of the subject being discussed, that is all that is warranted. I pride myself in being a very calm and level-headed person so finding myself caught up in this just sets the thermometer of the frustration level that is bubbling in our country. If I, as the calm and sensible type, am reaching the point of wanting to take up arms myself, then how much more are the radicals and impulsive types boiling over with intolerance and even more severe thoughts of violence. How long before the scales of reason and sensibility are toppled by rage and frustration? Even the fireworks have sparked new levels of intolerance because of selfishness and disrespect, on both the for and against groups. We have become intolerant of being tolerant. We all want what we want and screw everybody else. (There was a more emotive word in my mind but I decided to edit it out.)

How did we get here? More importantly, how do we get out of this situation?

It's easy to point a finger and blame the government for the turmoil we find our country in. A change in government will definitely be a move in the right direction but it is not the government's duty to control our emotions. What they do will certainly influence how we feel but each one of us has the power to decide how we react. It is within each one of us to change our perspective and consider our neighbour as we consider ourself. When this starts becoming commonplace amongst all of us then I believe we will see radical transformation. While we are still only looking out for ourself, I am sorry to say that I don't believe there is much hope.
It is going to be a very long and trying road to eradicate the heat under the cauldron of frustration and anger and to heal from the damage that has already been done. However, the longer we delay embarking on that journey, the more we will see loss of life and the greater the amount of healing that will be required.

God, please heal our land.

Change the Channel

I am a really slow reader so when I choose a book, it's a bit like a marriage commitment. I have to be really drawn into the content to persevere through to the last page. If it becomes a chore requiring more effort than enjoyment, the book becomes yet another place holder on my bookshelf.
I have just started a new self-help book and it is echoing the sentiments of my recent blogs so has piqued the attention of my internal antennae. The gist of the book is learning how to realise that "Life Loves You", the title of the book, and that it is you who can change your life to an amazing experience beyond a mere existence. I won't regurgitate the author's work here but when something really stands out I will certainly borrow the concept and add my slant on it.

Almost as a confirmation of my blog two weeks ago about taking control of your thoughts, a concept in the first few chapters of the book has struck a note:
The thoughts we have in our head, whether a recurring fleeting image or a long playing complicated high definition movie, often sound, look and feel so real that we believe they are true. The real truth is that they are NOT REAL. They are just your thoughts. The second part of that is just as profound, 'YOUR' thoughts. They belong to you, created by you, are controlled by you and are certainly not larger than you. You are in control and can chose how to react to whatever is in your mind at any time. My way of relating this concept is watching the tv and allowing the content to tell you what to do, act and feel. You are in control of the remote, change the channel!

I realise we are not robots and stressful or emotional situations are not easily forgotten or changed with the ease of pressing a button. We have to process events to move through and past them. I am referring to that constant replay-thought that keeps reminding you of something you failed at or didn't achieve. Those are the channels to monitor and change as soon as it affects your perception of loving life or living it.

"Life doesn't just happen to you; it happens for you."  - Louise Hay.