#41 – Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineten

Some things terrify me.

The thought of losing my wallet. The spider I saw once in my car who I think still lives there. Running a 3 in cricket. Being on the phone with an angry client.

But Mr Jelly? That guy’s terrified of everything. Until he meets a kind old man with some sagely advice:

‘Take a deep breath and count to 10. Then whatever was scaring you doesn’t seem so scary anymore’.

It works, and now Mr Jelly is a pretty calm dude.

Some things make me pretty peeved off. Until recently, most of those things were watching Melbourne play; but it also includes people coming late, stubbing my toe and being stuck behind slow cars.

I had a moment like that today. Something happened and I was ready to react. To yell, beep my horn, wind down my window and let them have it. I took Mr Jelly’s advice.

Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineten

My shallow breaths deepened. My snarl turned into a smile. I calmed down, reassessed the situation and realised it was better to leave it be.

Man I wish I knew about this earlier. It would have saved my loved ones from hearing a few profanities, my WhatsApp group chats from ill-thought-out angry messages and my desk from being hit once or twice.

I wondered why it helped so much. Is it not acting in the spur of the moment and taking a second to cool off? Is it thinking happy thoughts about a book I loved as a kid?

Then I looked a little further and realised what I did. I took a deep breath in and my counting was a deep breath out. I fought a stressful situation by replicating calm behaviour.

I found this on a government website, which is fitting as the most stressful thing in recent times is when the government has to announce something. It’s a biological response, not just a vibey one. It works whether you’re scared, angry, or anxious.

And if it’s good enough to help Mr Jelly reset after being very scared, then it’s good enough for me to stay calm when that phone rings.

Next week: What’s Next?