Eccentric Life Advice #16 – How to Fathom

After a shock or sudden change, the mind is prone to creating thoughts in flurries, each one unique, each one a shard of ice. It is normal to have such thoughts and it is normal to feel like each of these thoughts builds upon the next, until you are enveloped in your own blizzard of fears. When I find myself in the middle of one of these storms, I suggest the following.

Begin with a deep breath. Keep taking deep breaths. Then ask yourself, is there anything I can do to help this situation right now? If there is, go ahead and do it. Recently, on the full moon (and as someone graciously enlightened me, a blood moon) I was betrayed when my cat bit me. I was shocked, wanted to cry, and felt the impending blizzard. Asking myself what I could do right away, I ran my bleeding arm under cool water before applying pressure.

While waiting for the bleeding to stop thoughts crept through my guard. I suggest dealing with each thought individually, rating it on a scale of likelihood so you can focus only on those that require a plan. In my case, infection (a seven – more likely than not) was the most immediate threat, so I daubed myself with some warm salty water, put the cat out of my room, and dealt with the other incoming thoughts. If the bite looked or felt worse in the morning (a five, equally likely and unlikely) I would go to urgent care (a ten compared to the zero of seeing a GP on a Sunday).

However, after the initial surge of action, I was beginning to feel exhausted and weepy. If you are inclined to the same, I suggest you divert the negative thought flakes by asking yourself, what is the best possible outcome from this? I began to imagine that this was the moment I was going to begin my transformation into the werecat I have always wished to be, which made me feel much better almost immediately. I promise to update you next moon cycle.