“My father used to say to me, ‘Whenever you get into a jam, whenever you get into a crisis or an emergency…become the calmest person in the room and you’ll be able to figure your way out of it.'” – Rudolph Giuliani
When it comes to crisis the one with the greatest emotional stability flows through with less stress than those that are reactive. One of the things my father was good at was rehashing recent events that were important. At the time I just figured it was my father being critical of how people handled situations and maybe it was. But it taught me lessons on how to think when others panicked or reacted.
I learned that in rising stress to keep a cool head or you lose. In recovery I have in turn developed the habit of responding to crisis, criticism, pain, or any other emotion or event that raises the stress level rather than react to the challenge. It begins when I sense the stress I start out with what my sponsor Joe would say, “I/E Danny”… I over E, Intellect over Emotion. Think it through before you react out of anger, frustration, fear, or other reactive emotions.
Through the years I believe that has saved me enormous pain. At one time I would categorize myself as reactive or inpatient. Today that is not the case, today I would say I have matured and lived more balanced with my emotions. Life is good!
Go, Go, Go…
Dan 🙂