What is the world coming to?
I've recently moved into a new office near my home in Titusville, PA. Although I do miss trudging around in my pajamas all day, I have found a few perks. One of them is listening to NPR on my way in and out of the office.
Recently I was listening to "All Things Considered" and they pointed out a study that looked into how people deal with feeling powerless. (Study: 'Lack Of Control' Plays With Our Minds)
This story really hit home for me for several reasons. First, because I was moving into an office for the first time in my life there was a little adjustment period when my diligent 16 hour work days turned into a panicked chaos: finding wireless internet connections so I could download emails ; settling into a new schedule; not seeing my baby girl until 5pm. I don't make changes very often so it was stressful trying to set up internet connections at my office, getting furniture, and getting dressed everyday!
I also learned that my daughter is not as resilient as I previously thought. The change in routine made her start trying to control her almost 2-year-old world more, screaming "don't!" at me and telling me to "stop!" when I was in a hurry to get everywhere and throwing her in and out of the car seat. We were all in limbo as I waited weeks for my internet service to be fully functional, my office not to smell like the chemicals in fresh paint and remembering that I have to bring lunch.
Although this may not be true for everyone, I find that I don't realize that I'm trying to adapt until I stop and think about all of the things I'm trying to accomplish; spreading myself thin, working a lot and getting little done. Then I realized, much to my pleasure, that things just take time to settle down. It's a never ending lesson for me and maybe a reason why I don't like to shake things up too often.
Thankfully it only lasted a month. (I've been called a drama-queen before!) I was disappointed that the anti-climactic event of getting an office didn't contribute to a burst of unprecedented new business. I often think in best-case-scenarios and the fact that I had to deal with so many things I didn't take into account seriously tapped my energy.
Anywho, the NPR program that I listened to was fascinating. It talked about a phenomenon you may have experienced but haven't heard it discussed before. The study hypothesized that when people feel out of control they start looking for patterns as a way to find some sense in their world. After messing with the heads of the study volunteers, they then showed them a series of images that were likened to static on a t.v.
The realization that I was doing the exact same thing started to sink in right about then. As all of these things in my life started to transform and take on new meaning, I started to think that everybody thought I was a slacker and nobody could rely on me because I couldn't answer their midnight emails and weekend web site requests. Sorry Todd, Nathalie and Bob!
This could explain the saying "When it rains, it pours." When something starts to go bad in your life, lots of things start going bad. Also during September, I saw my cousin who is six months older than me get diagnosed with Hodgkins disease. My sister's sister–in–law had a bone marrow transplant to help cure her Non–Hodgkins lymphoma, my dog died, I ran out of gas and locked my keys in the car twice.
If all of these things don't make a person feel out of control, what would it take? Although I hate the end of summer and the burgeoning number of cold days, I thank Jupiter that October is shaping up to be a beautiful finale to these turning points in my life and of those around me.
The woman who conducted the study, Jennifer Whitson, concluded her radio interview with this little gem of advice:
These are some things I'm looking forward to in October:
Recently I was listening to "All Things Considered" and they pointed out a study that looked into how people deal with feeling powerless. (Study: 'Lack Of Control' Plays With Our Minds)
This story really hit home for me for several reasons. First, because I was moving into an office for the first time in my life there was a little adjustment period when my diligent 16 hour work days turned into a panicked chaos: finding wireless internet connections so I could download emails ; settling into a new schedule; not seeing my baby girl until 5pm. I don't make changes very often so it was stressful trying to set up internet connections at my office, getting furniture, and getting dressed everyday!
I also learned that my daughter is not as resilient as I previously thought. The change in routine made her start trying to control her almost 2-year-old world more, screaming "don't!" at me and telling me to "stop!" when I was in a hurry to get everywhere and throwing her in and out of the car seat. We were all in limbo as I waited weeks for my internet service to be fully functional, my office not to smell like the chemicals in fresh paint and remembering that I have to bring lunch.
Although this may not be true for everyone, I find that I don't realize that I'm trying to adapt until I stop and think about all of the things I'm trying to accomplish; spreading myself thin, working a lot and getting little done. Then I realized, much to my pleasure, that things just take time to settle down. It's a never ending lesson for me and maybe a reason why I don't like to shake things up too often.
Thankfully it only lasted a month. (I've been called a drama-queen before!) I was disappointed that the anti-climactic event of getting an office didn't contribute to a burst of unprecedented new business. I often think in best-case-scenarios and the fact that I had to deal with so many things I didn't take into account seriously tapped my energy.
Anywho, the NPR program that I listened to was fascinating. It talked about a phenomenon you may have experienced but haven't heard it discussed before. The study hypothesized that when people feel out of control they start looking for patterns as a way to find some sense in their world. After messing with the heads of the study volunteers, they then showed them a series of images that were likened to static on a t.v.
"We literally found people seeing images in static – they were given pictures that were just pure noise, like static on a television set – and we had those who felt that they lacked control saying that they saw significantly more images," she [Jennifer Whitson] says.
The realization that I was doing the exact same thing started to sink in right about then. As all of these things in my life started to transform and take on new meaning, I started to think that everybody thought I was a slacker and nobody could rely on me because I couldn't answer their midnight emails and weekend web site requests. Sorry Todd, Nathalie and Bob!
This could explain the saying "When it rains, it pours." When something starts to go bad in your life, lots of things start going bad. Also during September, I saw my cousin who is six months older than me get diagnosed with Hodgkins disease. My sister's sister–in–law had a bone marrow transplant to help cure her Non–Hodgkins lymphoma, my dog died, I ran out of gas and locked my keys in the car twice.
If all of these things don't make a person feel out of control, what would it take? Although I hate the end of summer and the burgeoning number of cold days, I thank Jupiter that October is shaping up to be a beautiful finale to these turning points in my life and of those around me.
The woman who conducted the study, Jennifer Whitson, concluded her radio interview with this little gem of advice:
" Maybe this could help in real life, Whitson says. When you're feeling powerless, maybe you should stop and think about what you really care about – something you do have control over."
These are some things I'm looking forward to in October:
- Watching the ever–fabulous Troy Polamalu (Steelers, #43) consistently be where he needs to be. My hope this football season is to see Troy get a touchdown interception. He deserves the glory.
- Sending my daughter to daycare! I found a great little daycare right by my office. It's affordable, accredited, and the kids were play–feeding baby dolls when I looked in on them. Precious!
- Meeting more people from Titusville. This town is like a little city. Having lived in the country for the past 7 years, I am welcoming the site of sidewalks, coffee shops and getting to know the city-minded people that I work near. It truly is a great town.
posted by Mary at
10:01 AM
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