We can control our reactions if we decide to do BEFORE an event.

Thomas Couture painting

I have discovered I can control my reactions to something irritating or bothersome but only if I decide to do so before I begin.t’s not a tight holding on to tension but a refusal to become tense/ or a way of avoviding becoming tense.
The easiest illustration is that owing to my vision I can’t thread a needle.But I am unwilling to give up mending my clothes,sewing on buttons etc.I
I got some so called Easy Threading Needles.They have a little opening at the top through which you pull the thread into the eye of the needle.But it’s harder than it sounds.When I pull on the thread sometimes instead of going into the eye the thread snaps.So I begin again.It usually takes me about 15 minutes but I always stay calm.I find it a tiny bit annoying when I am doing what I did last week.

I was wearing a skirt which is very full.I like it because it has 2 pockets which is very ,unusual nowadays.I realised the hem was coming down.But not how much!
When I took it off I found the entire hem has become undone.I began to hem it and as it is so full the circumference was large.I guess it took me 2 hours because I had to keep rethreading the needle…I felt peaceful.
Now I have some darning to do but it’s a smaller job.I find sewing by hand soothing.I know I have more sewing but I can’t remember what it is now!No doubt I shall go into town and then realise I have something undone…
When I was walking down the road one day I realised my coat was inside out!!It’s fun like this and my other odd habits like singing  songs in the street unknowingly that keeps me going.Normal,bah!
I am hoping to extend my refusal to let annoyance or distress get to me to a wider sphere than just threading needles.