Perspective Happy - Ep. 427

If you want a good trick for when things get hairy, It’s perspective you want--to give yourself some breathing room, It may not turn a rage monster into someone merry, But naming your mood and counting to ten can possibly stave off doom. [full text below] Ep. 427 - Perspective Happy We begin as always with the Happy Creed. We believe in Happy, in Balance and Growth, of being Mindful and Grateful, Compassionate and Understanding. Yowza Haha My Happy Friends! If you want a good trick for when things get hairy, It’s perspective you want--to give yourself some breathing room, It may not turn a rage monster into someone merry, But naming your mood and counting to ten can possibly stave off doom. How do you name your mood? It’s easy. If you feel mad, you say “I’m mad,” And what does that do? It moves it from the Stress part of your brain To the Reason part, and that can give you more perspective than you had, Which can give you some distance, some calm and relieve some of the strain. Your actions, environment and imagination are more powerful than you may think, Your emotions are the weaker voices, which is why they may sometimes scream Just to get your goat, but if you count, name, and imagine that you’re in the pink, Then you might be able to regain control and let the pain pass like a bad dream. But what if it’s already too late for counting and naming? What if you’re already too far gone in a bad mood for that to work? Well, intense emotions have a very short shelf-life, if you can avoid blaming, And just let them run their course without going a tad berserk. You see, it’s the stories we attach to those feelings that give them their staying power, You might get a sudden surge of anger when someone cuts you off at the pass, But it’s the narrative you invent about how they’ve had it in for you for the past hour That turns that fleeting feeling into a full-blown war and makes you step on the gas! And it’s not just with anger--it's with any extreme mood, but only if you take the bait, Your Stress Brain would love nothing better than to be fed loads of angsty, panicky fuel Just so’s it can steer you right into a spiral of bitter sadness and/or violent hate, But if you’re Perspective Happy, then you’ll know the tricks, and be able to keep your cool. Haha Yowza