Pause and respond, not pause and react

-

 




'Tis the season for stress to be on the rise.  Semesters are ending, holidays are here, and inflation and supply issues have made everything more expensive and harder to get.  It's times like this that it's easy to let a small mistake turn into something way bigger than it needs to be.  It's easy to let one misunderstanding turn into a fight.  One simple oversight becomes a massive problem. Ahhh, the joys of stress.

When this happens, the best thing we can do is pause.  Take a step back.  Walk away from the email.  Put the phone down.  When we jump to dealing with something, we often end up reacting to a situation rather than responding.  Reactions are hot, not thought out, and explosive.  Responses are calm, considered, and a way to deal with the problem without making things worse.  So, how do you trigger this response?  You take a breath.  Unless it's life and death, nothing needs to be addressed right now.  It can wait.  You and your mental health are more important.  Emails are allowed at least a 24-hour timeframe for a reply.  Texts don't demand an immediate reply.  It can all wait.

It may sound selfish or unproductive, but taking a moment (or day) to deal with a situation is actually in the best interest for everyone involved.  It will give you time to be more creative in coming up with a solution.  And, it's best for your health.  When you take care of yourself, you can better take care of others - family, friends, classmates, peers, colleagues, etc.  And, you may even discover that you end up responding with a solution that helps to head off more problems in the future.  It really is a win-win situation.

Now, speaking of letting small issues turn into huge mistakes.... I'll be at the salon praying that someone can turn my horribly colored purple and orange hair back into my natural white and grey.  Happy Tuesday, ya'll!



*Image Source: Seluk, N. (2021).  The Awkward Yeti. [comic strip].  Retrieved from: https://theawkwardyeti.com/chapter/heart-and-brain/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Keeping Perspective

-
Image
  Welcome back from Spring Break! If you're like me, it was way too short.  About the time I started finding my center and remembering to breathe, it was ending.  But, just because break is ending doesn't mean our perspectives should shift.  What perspective were you able to find during break?  I remembered that it's better for me (and my students) if I put self-care first.   How long did that perspective last?  About 5 minutes.  Actually, it would have lasted about that long, but I ended up scheduling an early lunch with a friend that I've been out of touch with during the pandemic.  Normally I dive head first into work and knock out as much as possible on Mondays.  But, with an early lunch planned, I only got a few things done before having to leave to make the date. And, it was the best thing that could have happened.  I had a leisurely lunch for about 2 hours and then returned fresh to deal with my to do list.  I'm now very...
Read more

Stressed....? Who's stressed????

-
Image
  So, I don't know about ya'll, but this semester is already off to a rocky start.  Instead of jumping into a brand new semester and academic year full of energy, hope, and excitement I've spent the last two weeks simply trying to breathe.  This is by far not the best time for a major asthma episode, and it has thrown everything into chaos.  Add in issues with the bookstore, late add's to classes, and all of the usual fun and fanfare that a new academic year brings... and, I'm exhausted.  And, I'm betting I'm not the only one struggling to get things on track.  So, I thought the best thing to do for today is to remember a few things that can help while we're in survival mode: 1) A fresh start is always available.  - If things didn't go as planned, use the afternoon to breathe and regroup.  And, start again fresh in the morning.  You don't even have to wait until tomorrow morning.  You can start fresh with your next deep breath. 2) Go slo...
Read more

Acceptance

-
Image
  Today I rediscovered my yoga practice after more than 6 months off the mat.  Was it what I wanted it to be? No. My body doesn't want to move into the positions it previously found easily.  My butt was in the air for child's pose rather than resting on my heels.  And, rather than being a long energetic practice filled with heat and movement, I chose to do a brief yin practice filled with slow floor poses and gentle stretches.  As I laid in savasana (resting pose) at the end of my practice, a thought entered my head - Acceptance.  Today was all about letting go of control and accepting where I am now, right in this moment.   Accepting the present moment can be challenging.  I find this to be especially true when I'm super-stressed or simply in a competitive mode.  At these times I'm reminded of what one of my favorite yoga teachers used to say in class whenever he saw us pushing too hard: "Yoga is not a competition - not even with yourself." ...
Read more