*the song stuck in my head -- gotta love it-- we are learning it at the preschool for the end of the year program --red raincoat -- by courtney campbell.
*loving survivor
*wishing jon was here so we could watch grey's and private practice -- the suspense is driving me crazy
*listening to chirping crickets and such...
--- something that i started with my girlfriends awhile back -- i don't know if it is original or not, but it was new for me... we were on one of our road trips having our usual conversations about water privatization, homogenized milk, organic vs. non organic, healthcare, bleach & pesticides, children taking apart old electronics, pre-washed salad mixes with poo in them and chickens that never see daylight, etc... (you'd have to meet my friends to understand this conversation)
basically the fact that there is a lot of really crummy things out there and not a lot that you can do about much of it-- so, since i (and several others who i know) could tend to like to worry about the world and all that is in it, thus driving ourselves crazy...enough was enough. i can't fix all the problems and worrying never brings results except taking years off of your life and leaving you with a perpetual headache -- enter the "5 minute" rule ( which may also be applied to many other things too ). 5 minutes to worry, fret or complain. then be finished. either stop thinking about it or take an "action step." i find it unrealistic to say "don't worry" -- i've decided that what works best for me is to set a limit to my worrying. while some things seem to require 5 minutes a day rather than just 5 minutes, it still limits my ocd worrying tendencies. i wish i was one of those laid back people who never worried about anything (like if what i just said came out right, if everyone is getting along, did i put sunscreen on my nose or turn off the flat iron before i left the house), but alas, i am just not made that way-- which is why i married someone who is the opposite of myself... which brings me to the next problem -- the one where i want to be perfect and live in a perfect world where all is happiness, sunshine, and rainbows -- not to mention all natural and organic. this presents some difficulty when colliding with the reality that is-- and probably is the source of 99.9% of my worries. ---did i mention that i am also a "fixer" -- yes, so when all is not sunshine and rainbows in my little world, i worry. and i try to fix.
worrier + fixer = unacceptable state of mind. enter the solution (or part of it seeing as a complete change of personality is a little hard to order) -- 5 minutes + action step
i really like those two words "action step" -- but then i really like labels too -- there is something about having a go-to phrase that helps me along the way. so after my 5 minutes are up -- i either need to stop worrying or create (and follow through with) an action step. i think it is empowering. it allows some control over something that you may other wise not have (or feel that you have) any control over. it gives you courage to face obstacles because you are making a choice to act instead of doing nothing, or doing nothing but worrying.
