When Ratty Met Shelley

[Author's note: "When Ratty Met Shelley," is part 2 of 20 in a series called, “The Moodscope Men,” inspired by the late, great Roger Hargreaves' series, "The Mr Men." Many of the characters will be female - I have used "Men" for the purpose of alliteration. Moodscope is a way to promote great mental health via their site www.moodscope.com The system uses 20 cards that you respond to on screen. 10 are positive indicators of good mental sparkiness, and 10 are unresourceful states to be aware of. Today's story celebrates the importance of the 'Irritable' card! The style is meant to be childlike to reflect the joy we have in reading children's stories.]

When Ratty Met Shelley - a tale with a very happy ending

In the second instalment of the Moodscope Men we meet Mr Irritable – first name ‘Ratty’!

Ratty was not a happy chappy.

Everything got under his skin.

It didn’t even have to be big stuff.

On some days, it was tons of little things that got him huffing and puffing and blowing his joy away.

That was until he met Shelley Oyster at a networking meeting.

Shelley said, “I really like seeing you at these meetings, you’ve got such a great sense of humour, and yet you seem really bothered about so many irritations. How can I help?”

Ratty said, “Oh, I’d love some help, I’ve always been like this though – and so have my parents. It seems to run in my family… like noses!”

They both laughed. Then Shelley shared, “We have a different approach in our family – it’s been passed down from generation to generation. In fact, I can remember the day my Gran took me on her knee and told me about the family magic.”

Ratty was fascinated, and asked, “Will you share this magic with me?”

“Yes! I’d be delighted,” said Shelley. â€œWe wrap every irritation in a magic potion. It’s called possibility thinking…”

Ratty interrupted with a big huff. â€œI’m not into that tree-hugging positive thinking – it’s just not realistic!”

“I agree!” said Shelley. â€œThis isn’t positive thinking, it’s ‘possibility’ thinking. With possibility thinking you take the irritation and flow around it with the thoughts of how this could possibly turn out for the good. You might be making stuff up but it gives you enough time to stop being huffy before it’s too late and you spoil your day.”

“OK, that sounds doable – can you give me an example?”

“Yes! You miss your flight and you think to yourself, ‘Maybe I’ll meet someone whom I otherwise wouldn’t have met.’ I know people who have met their soul-mates and even life-partners through missing a flight!”

“I wish you’d be my life-partner!” declared Ratty – in a most uncharacteristic moment of impulsive joy. He was so attracted to Shelley’s possibility thinking… and to the possibility of spending the rest of his life with someone so radiantly joyful.

“I was secretly hoping you’d ask!” Shelley said. â€œMy answer is ‘Yes!’ – if you’re proposing!”

And so our story has a happy ending. Shelley and Ratty got married, and I’m delighted to say Shelley’s possibility thinking rubbed off on old Ratty! (It can so often be the other way around, can’t it?) Instead of getting irritable all the time, Shelley helped him to ‘pause for possibilities’ – to reflect just long enough to see each situation in a new light.

And, in due season, they had a beautiful daughter, who they called ‘Pearl’. I’d like to imagine that this is where we get the phrase, “Irritation is the beginning of a pearl,” it’s a possibility, isn’t it?

…end…

Backstory

The idea for this blog series was one of those that comes gently in the night. Moodscope (www.moodscope.com) is a freely available system where you can scope your moods as frequently as you take the assessment. For those of us facing disappointment, grief, and even depression, it can help us recognise shifts and swings in our moods. This can lead to early intervention to make Life a whole lot easier to cope with. This is especially so if you take the opportunity to nominate one or many ‘buddies’. These buddies receive notification of your score each time you take record your moods.

The Moodscope assessment can be easily completed in a few minutes (less than 5). It is based upon 20 indicators of our emotional state. 10 are supportive; 10 are destructive. My intention is to run a series of blogs loosely inspired by Roger Hargreaves' creation, “The Mr Men.” Giving each of the moods a personality, I will share a strategy to either strengthen the good moods, or deal with the baddies! Today, Ratty Irritable found that there is most often a happy ending to the tale!

No matter your current perception of the state of your mental health, I encourage you to register at www.moodscope.com and give it a go. This will enable you to see how easy it is, and will give you awareness of the power of this tool. After all, 25% of the UK population will have an issue with mental health at one time or another. Understanding Moodscope will help you understand a friend in need, provide a tool to help them, and possibly even help yourself.