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.

Restraint

Ann Brenoff: Restraint Is A Virtue I’m Working On It

Ann Brenoff: Restraint Is A Virtue I’m Working On It.

I was thinking how we are often told we don’t work hard enough,we procrastinate and should have worked ourselves into the ground.

On the other hand how often are we told to be more restrained?If anything we’ve been told letting out our anger,rage,irritation is good for us or makes us feel better[what about the other?]

But now we learn expressing anger makes us more angry.Counting to ten or fifty is better.

Also,it’s bad for us to exaggerate our feelings..maybe to make a good story for our friend

Restraint is also known as temperance [nothing to do with alcohol].

I suppose like the weather moderate is safer.We can’t control the weather but we can bite our lips

Sometimes I feel there are no grown ups anymore!