Embedded Notorious Elements

Posted on: Friday, June 24th, 2011

So what happened in Vancouver? The Canucks lost on their home turf and then there was rioting in the streets? Kinda reminds me of the English football (soccer) league fans. Vancouver has been working hard to reclaim its reputation in the eyes of the world as a peace-loving city. Last verdict was that the rioting was caused by thugs and criminals and not by the ordinary citizenry that make up the Canuck fan-base.

These notorious elements were embedded in the large crowds and took advantage of the opportunity. Reminds me of the presence of certain elements in our lives like anxiety, perfectionism, failure etc, sometimes known as ‘gremlins’ who get embedded amidst all our hopes and dreams and intentions for our lives. Suddenly they show up and are giving us such a hard time and may succeed at changing our reputation.

Have you ever been called an ‘anxious person’ or a ‘perfectionist’? Well there you go. At heart you may be cool, calm and collected, but after some disappointment or in the face of great expectations anxiety and perfectionism may suggest you act in anxious and perfectionist ways.

Next time you face these unruly elements take a deep breath and try standing up to them. Don’t let them change the way you want to be viewed. Give them the boot. Act in the manner consistent with the peace-loving and life-loving person that you are. One way to stand up to anxiety is to ask the question, ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ Consider the worst-case scenario, consider what you would do in that case and rate the current situation in light of that. Hopefully you relax.