THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, April 8, 2010
19
by Dr. Debi Warner
Contributing Writer
Dear Dr. Debi, I’m on edge having my
hours cut and fear losing my job. With all this time, I should work on the house but I just can’t focus or get going. What can I do? Signed,
Upset and Stuck
Dear Looking for Outlets, Many of us do fret in un-
certain economic times. And when it starts to touch you with cut hours, it can bring on fear. It helps to understand how fears and worries work so we can find our way to productive efforts that will improve the situation. It is pretty common for
folks to freeze up when worried. It may be good to talk with a counselor if you are pretty stuck for longer than you would like. But in any case, let’s consider the way the brain works. There are parts of the
brain that do our better thinking – our forethought and problem solving areas located in the front of the brain, tend to become en- cumbered when we have fear. With so many stories of economic catastrophe, it seems rational to fear the worst when your own job is affected. But your brain does not have to remain in that state for long, even if the condi- tions have not changed. Let’s see how you can turn your brain back on. You can help turn your
brain back on by doing what I call brain calis- thenics. This involves good breathing to improve circulation, and also exer- cising the functions of the frontal areas that are on break. Humor is among these. You can read joke books or rent a comedy to see. You can practice joke telling with your kids; and you may find that the process of learning to tell a joke is sillier than the joke itself. You can practice some
sequence exercises. How about imagining the steps involved in your own proj- ect or someone else’s? How about looking at the church steeple and fig- uring out how they laid the rafters and placed all those pieces up so high before they had our nice cherry pickers today? Your brain turns back on as you sequence those steps, even if it is not your own house. You can practice puzzle
solving and even mathe- matics, to help your brain turn back on. Try doing addition or multiplication tables; I bet you haven’t done that in a coon’s age. A very useful addition table is sevens, since we use that all the time in our dates. Multiplication of sixteens is also a good one for carpentry work, to know stud placements. You can also practice
your empathy. That is seeing the world from another’s point of view. You can get to your kids’ level and see if you can imagine their perspective, from their bunk bed or tree fort. You can com- bine this empathy thing with helpfulness and get a double reward. How about helping the little old person across the way, raking out their gutters, changing bulbs up high, and moving heavy things for them? That will also help you other ways, in warming and soothing
the emotional areas of the brain. Had no idea that helping causes good things on your end? There are even more bonuses – helpers have fewer colds with their boosted im- mune system. Now we can work on the thinking part. Establish- ing a balance of thought is a really good step for bringing your brain back online. We can get over- focused on a negative; when worried it can con- sume our view. You may well know that your fear is not the whole picture, but it takes effort to actually change that view. Maybe start by listing your bless- ings. Whatever health and mobility you have, any people who care about you, the freedom to come & go, to speak, to build, to have the preferences that you do. Your list can go on. Ok, so now what? You
have done inside brain work, now it is time to expend some energy. Get- ting the body moving can release a lot of tension and allow yourself to get back in the groove. Likely you have thought of a quick task that will use some
vigor: raking thatch in the lawn, turning over the garden or compost, put- ting last season’s things away, stacking wood or spreading hay. An hour or so of using your body can bring action to your brain again. Just be sure you are cleared by your doctor to get into such activities. Now that you have a
little hum, you can get rolling on some of your stuff. It is good to start within your skill set and on shorter tasks. That will help the ball get rolling on your momentum. Talk with your Home
Team about the tasks going on and stay in the
loop with people. You can balance your job solu- tion activities with your home projects, keeping a balance that still feeds your satisfaction, when the other side is harder to face. That’s why they call it home; it’s a place for your expression and rejuvenation, and you know that for your kind of person, the projects do the trick.
Happy Home Team! Dr. Debi
Dr. Debi Warner is the Founder of Renovation Psychology®
and
author of Putting the Home Team to Work, available now online.
Dr. Debi provides advice for greater domestic harmony to folks who are renovating their home – for True Home Improvement. This column is offered for enjoyment and enhancement and is not intended to replace your personal medical care. Photo by Bob Jenks, St. Johnsbury, Vt. Dr. Debi has a con- sultation practice, visiting home sites all over New England from her studio in Littleton, NH at the Tannery Marketplace. © 2009 Renovation Psychology® Questions are welcome.
Visit www.RenovationPsychology.com
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