Yesterday, I shared a technique for quickly becoming calm. If you applied that any time you are upset, your quality of life would improve significantly.
But what if you didn't need to become calm because you're always calm?
One of my favourite metaphors is that of the Rumble Strip (thanks, coach Jamie Smart). It's the painted line that you see by the side of the road. As well as being highly visible, it has a special, unseen property.
It's designed to make the car shake and get your attention as soon as you start driving on it. Nothing else.
All you need to do in that situation is to slightly turn the wheel, correct course, get back in your lane and carry on driving.
What you don't do is keep driving on it hoping it'll get better or get out of the car and curse your driving or the person who painted it. And you don't keep driving over it, and risk going up the bank or down the ditch.
Eventually you begin to drive in a way that subconsciously avoids the rumble strips in the first place.
So what's the connection between Calm and Rumble Strips?
What if feelings such as anxiety, fear and anger were just rumble strips whose job is simply to get your attention and let you know you're not calm?
What would happen if, as soon as you began to get upset, you took a breath and acknowledged that no good will likely come from continuing that train of thought?
In time, you will notice that you are generally much calmer and rarely get upset. And when you're calm you can respond to life instead of react.
What are your rumble strips? How often are you driving on them? What would happen if you noticed sooner? How would life be as a result?
