If it Starts out Goofy...
Have you ever noticed some days start rather wonky? They seem to get off to the wrong start. Many years ago I coined a saying because of these very situations; "If it starts Goofy, Goofy never gets better!" For example, have you had an occasion where you were preparing for a meeting and it didn't go smoothly? You know you should have printed the material the night before but thought you would wait until the morning because you wanted to do something else that evening. In the morning, you start your computer to search for that one email, the one from last month with some attachments for a future presentation. That little circle with the arrow appears at the top and won't stop rotating as it is trying to connect and download. Is the computer thinking about something or is it incapable of cooperating with you? It stops and then you realize your internet is intermittently connecting. You wait patiently but, impatiently at the same time as you are at the mercy of technology beyond your control.
The moment comes and you are moving on! Like you always do you click on the print icon and discover a paper jam in the printer which you quickly resolve and find out there are 2 pieces of paper in the bin and you need at least 20. All because the last person using the printer was selfish and then rationalized they were probably the same one who left the coffee pot yesterday with less than a half cup because they didn't want to take time to start a fresh pot. Sounding familiar? So, you fill the paper bin with half of a ream of paper much like you would fill a new coffee filter with coffee and run a fresh pot.
You gather your things together including your protein shake and as you walk toward your car you drop your keys, bend to pick them up, and something falls out of your pocket or purse. You rescue the items and place everything in the seat next to you in a neat stack. You realize the latest news has been so stressful and choose a music channel instead to hear your favorite tunes to relax till you arrive at your meeting. When you get there, you place your items in an organized fashion and you realize you have 15 minutes before the meeting starts. This is the perfect time to grab and enjoy a cup of coffee. You eye up the coffee and donuts on the side counter. The protein shake you drank on the way to the meeting was sufficient. Avoiding the donuts this time you selected the medium roast pod. Pressing the button you decide to grab one of your favorite coffee creamers-hazelnut-which spurts all over the place. When you tear open the sugar packet little granules fly out everywhere! It takes you 5 minutes to clean up the mess.
Finally, as you tilt the cup to your lips, your chin develops a hole and the coffee drips down the front of you. You realize; Goofy never gets better. You wipe off the coffee with a couple of napkins. Shaking your head and nodding to the others standing nearby, you decide to take a seat before something else adds to the goofy. In the next few moments of thought, you also realize you had some highs and lows in the morning, time will pass, and this will all be behind you soon. You have just a little over five more minutes before the presentation begins. You are prepared for the meeting yet you still feel a bit anxious.
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Here are a few tips to quickly calm yourself in a setting like this.