Once you’re feeling a bit more grounded, take a look at your life and your worries. As you do so, shift your focus from “why is all of this happening to me?” to grabbing a pen and paper and writing your answers to the following:
1) What is great about this worrisome problem? What can I learn from it?
2) What do I need to do to work on this constructively?
3) What behaviors need to shift so that this problem also shifts?
4) How can I enjoy my life and be in the process of making positive changes?
5) How can I break this problem into manageable chunks and dig in? Where is the best place for me to start?
Finally, to lighten your mood, try the following. (Warning, you will need a bowl of yellow Jell-O!) Music teacher Don Campbell advises his students to lighten up, think outside the box, and tell their problems to a bowl of yellow Jell-O. Says Don, “It’s like a Zen Koan. You just can’t think in an ordinary way when you’re talking to a bowl of Jell-O. Getting the brain unstuck from its old ways of communicating—that’s the key.” (From Thinking about Thinking, by Clark McKowen.)
1) Make a big bowl of yellow Jell-O.
2) Once the Jell-O has set, take it out of the fridge and confess all. Let your worries niggle and jiggle along with the Jell-O. See what solutions come to mind.
Excessive worry thrives on procrastination, agitated breathing, and a heavy heart, so ditch them all and start living your life.
March Problem
Dear Lisa,
I’m a Type-A, driven kind of perfectionist with a grave fear of letting things slide, which I rarely do. Once I let them go a bit , I feel like I will never catch up. It seems so all or nothing. Also, my perfectionism can keep me from finishing what I’ve started. Any suggestions as to how I might lighten up, enjoy my life, and still get things done?—Jennifer
PREVIOUS PAGE
