These days, it seems to be in vogue to be frozen with fear, curled up in a ball, calling the therapist for a refill on all three mood stabilizers.
In the movies, anyway.
Previous generations seemed to have it all together: get out of bed, go to work, raise the kids, have a life, get it done.
Maybe that was only in the movies, too.
What I do know is my parents and grandparents demonstrated a “buckle down and get it done” attitude that some in today’s culture seem to have lost (if they ever learned it in the first place).
If I’ve ever had a frozen moment, a moment of doubt, a moment where I didn’t know where to turn, I turned to one simple action, something I learned from David K. Reynolds and his A Handbook for Constructive Living.
I ask myself one of these questions:
What is the next high payoff action I can take now?
What is one useful, productive action I can take now that will interrupt this pattern and shift me into a different place? For me, it’s sometimes something as simple as getting up from my desk, and washing the dishes.
Strangely enough, I get some of my best ideas with my hands deep in warm soapy water.
What’s your “pattern interrupt” thawing strategy?
