It’s funny how the tiniest thought can produce just a wee bit ‘o stress“my cell phone should not have run out of battery power”.
I knew it wasn’t a matter of life or death…CLEARLY.
But still.
I told someone I would call them back 5 minutes ago. I will now be quite late. They will be waiting for me.
And what if my children are trying to text me RIGHT NOW?
Yeah, now that I think about it…I want to text my husband, and my good friend who texted me earlier. But I can’t! This is annoying!
And that person is waiting….they might even be getting upset. Dang! I hate my new phone! My old phone had a better battery!
Jeez, what kind of company would make a phone that drains out of battery power so quickly?
How did I overlook the battery level being so low? I don’t remember using the phone that much…did I do something?
Is there something else I haven’t learned yet about this phone, something that inadvertently uses up all the battery power?
Probably, it’s so complicated! I don’t even understand all the features. There are too many of them! I just want a simple phone!
Getting this phone was a big mistake!!!!
That’s how the mind runs sometimes. It’s like it’s flitting from idea to idea, figuring out the source of the problem.
Digging down into a deeper, more intense, more theatrical belief.
Have you ever looked at your beloved partner and through the same process of disgruntled stressful thinking…..gone from being upset that he doesn’t wipe the mud off his shoes, to concluding that this relationship is doomed?
Or maybe you had a flat tire, or took longer than expected in the store, or you got stuck in heavy traffic, or you cut your finger, or you couldn’t sleep, or you received some news in the mail….and your heart jumps, you experience a little worrisome image, your mind thinks this could be serious.
Not just serious….dire. Dreadful. Tragic.
For a long time, I carried in my wallet a cartoon drawing that reminded me of the Drama Queen Mind.
It was a one-frame square cartoon image. A man was standing, opening his mail. The only written word in the drawing was a bubble coming out of an envelope he was holding as he ripped one end of the envelope open….“tear”.
In the background, his dog was going berserk. The drawing captured this dog going completely ballistic, and the man turning quizically towards the dog, as if wondering what the heck was the problem?
Beneath the frame was the caption “As usual, violent behavior sets the dog off.”
As usual, a major freakin’ emergency sets the mind off (cell phone ran out of battery, what else).
Fortunately, that all happens so fast, that with inquiry….without taking it seriously….a few more minutes go by and I am chuckling about the phone, and I notice all is incredibly well. Later the person I was calling back didn’t seem to notice how late I was.
But don’t berate or be upset with yourself if you react more drastically. It sometimes is the way of it.
Then you’ll know to question whether what you’re thinking is an emergency is actually true? And you may discover quite quickly that it’s not.
And then maybe when a true actual emergency comes along…that won’t feel so much like one, either.
“So, how do you get back to heaven? To begin with, just notice the thoughts that take you away from it. You don’t have to believe everything your thoughts tell you. Just become familiar with the particular thoughts you use to deprive yourself of happiness. It may seem strange at first to get to know yourself in this way, but becoming familiar with your stressful thoughts will show you the way home to everything you need.” ~ Byron Katie
Much Love, Grace
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