What does it take to not get spun up about all the stuff that’s happening in the world and in your life? Spun up…a term coined by one of my coaching clients. Spun up, out of control, the mind taking you everywhere you would prefer not to go. Heart racing, mind spiraling, foot stomping, angry. How do we not go there when we see injustice, violence, greed, unchecked power, gross economic inequity, hatred and suffering in innumerable ways?
Well, you get to decide if you want to live spun up. It’s your decision about how to spend your precious life. I don’t want to spend any of it spun up. I don’t like the feeling and I don’t find it useful in any way. Okay, so now what?
It takes practice. Just because I don’t want to live this way doesn’t mean it will somehow automatically happen. I can practice bringing myself back from the edge. I have to notice it first. Have some self-awareness; and then close my eyes and take a deep breath. I know that a deep breath and a pause are what works best. Just stop for a minute. Breathe. Maybe even take a walk. Have a cup of tea. Practice. Notice and then bring yourself back from the edge. Over and over again.
Decide. Notice. Practice.
I like the ‘back from the edge’ place. It’s calmer, quieter, clearer. I feel more grounded. I’ve shaken off the tension for a minute and gotten my bearings. I can start again. Thank God!
Practicing
Paula
” Anger … it’s a paralyzing emotion … you can’t get anything done. People sort of think it’s an interesting, passionate, and igniting feeling — I don’t think it’s any of that — it’s helpless … it’s absence of control — and I need all of my skills, all of the control, all of my powers … and anger doesn’t provide any of that — I have no use for it whatsoever.”
[Interview with CBS radio host Don Swaim, September 15, 1987.]”—Toni Morrison
