Christopher Calhoun
01-12-2020, 07:10 AM
I am no operator. I have never been to war, nor have I roamed the streets looking for trouble (paid for by any government...ahem). I have had my share of fights, some okay, some good, some bad. Through all the messiness of life recently I have frequently caught myself behind the curve emotionally as far as events or otherwise that, for lack of a better way to describe it, piss me off. Nobody would call me hot headed in any measure however, I will say I have caught myself having more "what the hell?!?" moments where my brain has to catch up because my emotions took over. Some areas this is fine, normal, even preferred. I would say not so much in an instance where you need immediate action.
I personally have started to challenge myself and change that reaction from "what the hell," to "alright move." It is a little mental note to myself to just work through whatever the thing is and either make a decision or move on. Obviously, these are done in minuscule amounts of real time, split second as it were. Something that has helped however is four count box breathing. I bet some of your seasoned warriors like Gabe, Brent, Jon Payne, Chris, and anybody else are already doing something similar.
Here is an example. It is a stupid example but illustrates the point clearly: I hate traffic. I have to drive into Dallas every morning and then back home every evening. Traffic makes me needlessly angry. It is the only thing I can openly say I am utterly unreasonable about which is why I started doing box breathing on the way home and to work in the mornings. Not every day, because not every day is a bad day of traffic. Do I wish I was not in the traffic? Yes but that will be solved once I own my own business or have more than one income stream and will not have to work like this any more. The breathing calms me tremendously. I am better focused and it helps my decision making skills stay on par with when I am not stressed. Not quite ahead but still on par.
I like staying ahead mentally, so this helps. Will it help anybody else? I believe it will. I will even confidently say that on a forum where everybody knows a whole heck of a lot more than I do, that I can recommend this with an, "it works."
For those not familiar with box breathing it goes like this: Inhale for a steady count of four: 1...2...3...4. Hold, 1...2...3...4. Exhale, 1...2...3...4. Hold, 1...2...3...4. Repeat.
Try it. You may find it works for you. I even do this now before I hit the sack some nights and am going to purposefully start to throw some small meditation in before bed.
I personally have started to challenge myself and change that reaction from "what the hell," to "alright move." It is a little mental note to myself to just work through whatever the thing is and either make a decision or move on. Obviously, these are done in minuscule amounts of real time, split second as it were. Something that has helped however is four count box breathing. I bet some of your seasoned warriors like Gabe, Brent, Jon Payne, Chris, and anybody else are already doing something similar.
Here is an example. It is a stupid example but illustrates the point clearly: I hate traffic. I have to drive into Dallas every morning and then back home every evening. Traffic makes me needlessly angry. It is the only thing I can openly say I am utterly unreasonable about which is why I started doing box breathing on the way home and to work in the mornings. Not every day, because not every day is a bad day of traffic. Do I wish I was not in the traffic? Yes but that will be solved once I own my own business or have more than one income stream and will not have to work like this any more. The breathing calms me tremendously. I am better focused and it helps my decision making skills stay on par with when I am not stressed. Not quite ahead but still on par.
I like staying ahead mentally, so this helps. Will it help anybody else? I believe it will. I will even confidently say that on a forum where everybody knows a whole heck of a lot more than I do, that I can recommend this with an, "it works."
For those not familiar with box breathing it goes like this: Inhale for a steady count of four: 1...2...3...4. Hold, 1...2...3...4. Exhale, 1...2...3...4. Hold, 1...2...3...4. Repeat.
Try it. You may find it works for you. I even do this now before I hit the sack some nights and am going to purposefully start to throw some small meditation in before bed.