Most of us tend to lose it every now and then; it’s part of being human. The key is to not lose it all when you lose it! Contain the damage, limit your losses. Like the rock climber strapped into a safety harness, if you lose your grip, you only want to slip down a few feet not fall all the way to the bottom!
One method that has always worked for me is to have a plan for failure. Planning for failure may sound defeatist or like negative thinking to some BUT stuff happens! AND if in your “cold” state (rational, cool, calm, collected, centered) you have not thought through your backups, anticipated things going wrong, paid full attention to the downside and how you will handle it; I assure you that odds are you will not do as well as you could, as well as you know, when you are hit by troubles and are in a “hot” (emotional, tired, intoxicated, stressed) state.
I think of it as “packing an emotional secondary parachute”. You think someone a fool who jumped with only one chute but we go through our lives without contingency plans, without fully thinking through ways to handle possible downsides, critical or decisive situations.
Be it a rainy day savings account or religiously having a designated driver or always locking your door/windows or letting someone know where you are when you go into an untried or possibly dicey situation or VERY firm rule on # of drinks (in my drinking days, mine was 3 glasses of wine when not home). Always consider the downside, always plan how to cope.
Closing Quotes:
“Never give up what you want most for what you want now.” – Unknown
“Plans are useless, planning is invaluable.” – Patton
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin
As always, I share what I most want/need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier