guest article ( article 2 of 2 today )

GUEST ARTICLE
( article 2 of 2 today )
*

Rain and Spiders oh my! Part Three

Greetings Fellow Minions *Gives secret BISON handshake*

For the slow amongst us this follows on from "Rain and Spiders oh my! Part Two", lighten up Francis I wasn't talking about you (Rewatch the instructional film "Stripes" for that reference. John Candy you are missed).

We learned that if you're stressed and you're in Flight or Fight that chances are you're not thinking straight. You've got tunnel vision and you're unco-ordinated. You might have a sinking feeling in your stomach as the body shifts blood supply from what's not needed right now (digestion) to the muscles so you can bash your way out of the situation Neanderthal style.

There's some smart shiela who came up with a model of how people deal with grief. DABDA - Denial, Anger (or frustration), Blame, Defeat / Depression, Acceptance. With the exception of the last part we're playing the victim and nothing productive occurs. It's at Acceptance where we can act. (refer to instructional video -> https://youtu.be/ohrjV8hBmC0?t=67 ).

How can we use this knowledge?

The first part is Awareness. We have to be mindful of our internal dialog and also what others around us are saying. We have to catch ourselves before we allow it to get to far. Not only is Debbie Downer going to put us in a downer Mr Grumpy is going to drag everyone down and we're all just gunna give up. So turn that frown upside down and get to work! Or in other words Without awareness we're just running on Flight & Fight programming

The second part is to have an Anchor -  reason to go on. "I have to do this because ...." (see kids, pay the mortgage, make sure the browser history is cleared). My instructor gave some personal anecdotes about people who "made" it and others that didn't during SF selection. He was referring to men in the peak of physical conditioning where fitness wasn't a factor of their success rather it all came down to mindset. Those that had an anchor were in successful part.

The last part is Combat/Battle/Survival Breathing. This is an important point that warrants a post of it's own so stay tuned for the next instalment of Rain and Spiders oh my!