The Large Effect of Little Things

Image by JJ Harrison

Now couldn't that be a title of a book? Or a movie? Well, it's not. It's the title of this blog post and inspired by a small creature that has been making our lives miserable. No, I'm not talking about our 16 month old, she's actually quite delightful, I'm talking about the musquitoes that terrorize us every night. Neither me nor my dear husband are very tolerant of buzzing, stinging insects, so having heard them once, we'll pretty much drift in and out of sleep for the rest of the night. The next morning we're both horrendously grumpy while trying not to be and the try to forget about the whole thing, only to have it repeat the next day.

... but I'm not one to complain.

Instead, I want to draw a valuable life lesson from it because, well, that's what makes the whole thing seem less annoying and I have something to write about. Hence the title.

Life lesson of the day:

When looking in morose fashion at how incredibly sad, ugly and violent this world is, think of the little mosquito and it's huge effect. I bet there is something that you can do to have an effect that is much bigger than you are as well. No, don't go bug someone by dancing around buzzing and ruining their day. Instead, think of something positive you could do, for yourself or for others. A kind word to someone who looks down could make their day. Treating the office to chocolates could cheer up the entire floor. Taking time to relax could benefit your health in the long run.

Every action we do has a ripple effect on our future, whether it's internal or external (through brain chemistry and body chemistry thoughts become feelings and physcial actions, so internal versus external is really not much of a difference.)

Do something small today and see something big tomorrow. (Or be patient and wait a little longer. You can learn how to patient here.)

Picking up where you left off

Right, it's been a while. Now that we've got that covered, let me say I want to pick this thing up a little bit again. I thought I'd just jump right in and give a glimpse of why I need Minutes Worth Hours now more than ever:

• I'm now a full-time stay-at-home mom of a 15-month-old
• My husband works full time
• Two weeks ago I started my own business as a translator/(copy)writer
• I try to keep a vegetable patch with my mother
• We use cloth diapers and practice attachment parenting

And yet, so my dear husband points out, I still want to do more more more. Obviously I find myself without time to do it and too tired to keep up with anything. Yoga? Hasn't happened in months. Ironing? Three loads waiting upstairs. 

But, I am happy. We've got the most important bases covered. We make enough to cover our expenses. Our baby girl can stay at home instead of go to daycare and, most important of all, she's happy!

So what's my advice for today?

While you're running behind on your chores trying to get everything done and realizing you can't possible manage ... take a breath. Reflect and see if you've got the main things covered that you find of importance. 

If there's anything I've learned having a baby it's that the details don't really matter. What you find important in life, that's what should take up your time and effort. 

In the mean time, try not to flinch when your friend glances at the dirty dishes in the sink. 

As a WAHM I've got some new tips and tricks that I accumulated over the months and will be sharing with you guys. One little piece at a time! Feel like sharing? Comment below or share on facebook to get the conversation started!

Improve Your Sleep with 5 Minutes Relaxation

(source)

Sleep is one of those things that pregnant women and young mothers learn to say goodbye too. After a while, a solid night's sleep seems like a faraway memory, although a very fond one indeed.

During the course that my husband and I have been taking, however, the midwife showed us some relaxation techniques and I am always pleasantly surprised at how well I sleep after these exercises. I've learned that letting go of tension you build up during the day is key to falling asleep easily and resting comfortably (at least until the next bathroom break).
Below I'll give you some of the tips that she gave us for relaxing your body in about five minutes. No excuse for lack of time here.

Settle yourself down on the bed in a position that is comfortable. Most people will lay down on their back or their side. Breath slowly letting each exhalation go completely before breathing in again.Let your mind wander over the different parts of your body and first tense the muscles, to then release them. Start with your face and make a big frown, tensing all your facial muscles. Then slowly let your face relax completely, paying attention to every single area. In the same way go down your jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, stomach, and so on, until you reach your toes. Feel the tension drain from every part of your body with each breath out. 

Even if you don't use this to fall asleep, it can feel great when you find you have a nagging pain somewhere. Often this is the result of muscles that are too tense because of sitting in the same position or making the same motion each time.

Let me know if it worked for you!

Final Five Review

Photo by Michael Coghlan

Wow, it's been a while, right? My last post dates from around Christmas, but I don't want you thinking I've been sitting on my bum doing nothing for the last two months. In that time we rounded up our lives in China and flew across the Pacific. Now we're living in Los Angeles, setting up for our lives with a new baby, only to fly to Belgium next week to actually have that baby.

Being focused, driven and productive in a time like that is not easy, but all the more important. There are so many things to get done and the lack of structure means that without concentration some tasks keep falling through the cracks.

So what we did was take the last minutes of each day and go over what we had accomplished and what was still left to do.

The best time to do this is right before going to bed. I suggest taking pen and paper to write down anything you might need to remember. Go over the day by yourself, or with your significant other, and congratulate yourself and each other on what you have accomplished. Even if it was a lazy day and all you did was go out to lunch with the in-laws, acknowledge that this is an important part of life too!

Then go over the tasks that you still have left to do and think of a time to do them. It could be as simple as planning to do them the next day or later. Just keeping them in mind is what helps. 

Doing this and reminding ourselves of our responsibilities ensured that we got a lot done but were still very flexible. More on the importance of flexibility later!

20 Things to Feel Grateful For Every Day!

(source)

Recognizing the good in your life is a great short-cut to happiness. Finding out what you already have and how you really feel about it will show you that you may be much happier than you realize already. And to help you get along in counting the blessings in your life, I've assembled a list of 20 things we can all be grateful for every day (or at least the majority of us).

This list is guaranteed to cheer you up!

1. The fact that you're alive! Out of all the zillion possible human beings that could have been created, the fact that we are the ones that made it. Our parents met, they fell in love (or into bed drunkenly), out of all the possible combinations that could have come from that union, we are the ones that came into being. The chances of existing are so tiny that we should feel grateful every day to have made it.
   
2. To be living on a planet that not only sustains, but also provides for the life on it.
   
3. Your health.
   
4. For the food you can eat.
   
5. The ability to read, learn, experience life.
   
6. A brain that has the ability to comprehend its own magnificence.
   
7. Your family, the love they feel for you and you for them.
   
8. Your friends.
   
9. The roof over your head and walls around you that keep out the rain, wind or sunshine.
   
10. The clothes that keep you warm and protected.
    
11. The money that allows you to buy what you need.
    
12. The purpose in your life, be it work, study, taking care of the family or searching for a new purpose.
    
13. The kindness of strangers: a seat offered on the bus, someone who holds the door open, help bagging your groceries.
    
14. The warm fuzzy feeling of waking up and taking 3 extra minutes in a cozy bed.
    
15. A hot cup of coffee/tea/coco on a cold day. A smile when you're sad. A surprising ray of sunshine through dark clouds.
    
16. The amazing benefits of the modern world: your phone, computer, the internet, fridge, running hot water, etc.
    
17. The memories you can access whenever you feel like it.
    
18. The experiences that made you who you are today, be they bad or good ones.
    
19. The knowledge you have acquired over the years and how it benefits you every day.
    
20. The awareness of everything you can be grateful for.

It's not difficult to think of things to be grateful for. They will be different for everyone, but these 20 will be common to many of us. Being reminded of the things we take for granted can open our eyes to the wonders of life. 

On Being Ignored

Picture by Michael Westley

Today, as I took the bus home from school, I saw two American girls on there that I have noticed before. I've met them once at a party, but we never really talked.Still, it's quite common for foreigners in Yantai to greet each other without ever having met before and strike up a random conversation, so imagine my surprise when I looked at them and they didn't look back but kept on chatting! I took my seat, and at the next stop they got off, walking by me as if I didn't exist (or was just another Chinese person they'd never met before).

The whole thing seemed kind of ridiculous, and I couldn't help wondering the rest of the way home, why they didn't acknowledge that I was there. Perhaps they don't really remember me and feel awkward; perhaps they are severely Euro-phobic, perhaps they thought I wasn't one of the cool crowd, etc. The ideas became gradually more ridiculous.

So next time you find yourself in a similar situation, do what I did in the end: absolutely nothing!
Unless you have a sure way of finding out why someone is ignoring you, just stop worrying about it. Clearly you were not meant to be great friends, and you may not be losing out on much not getting better acquianted with this person. 

Whatever someone may or may not think about you is often more of a reflection of them, than it is of you. You have little to do with other people's perceptions, because that's what they are: perceptions. They are not reality. 

After I gave up trying to figure out why I was being ignored, I looked around and saw how many people do notice me every day: The lady who gave up her seat for me, friends who pass me on their bicycles, students that see me from far away. It can be unsettling to find someone ignore you, but I'm sure it's the exception! 

Aim for Small

Mini-cupcake by Vancouver Bites!

Pregnancy and food are a dangerous mix. Especially pregnancy and junk food. But I know it's not only pregnant women that crave foods that are bad for them. We all have our weaknesses and sometimes it's just too hard not to give in.
My hubby is pretty strict with me when it comes to eating fast food (frankly, I just don't tell him everything), but I make allowances for myself. If I really want something, I feel better just giving in than obsessing over it and getting stressed out in the process.

So how do I lessen my guilt and keep my intake of junk food under control? I opt for the smallest portion size.

I know that technically you get more value for money if you buy big sizes (although it's best to check that because I've found that sometimes the big containers end up costing more per kg than the small ones!), but you will still save money if you buy a smaller portion. The reality is that if you buy the big portion, you'll most likely finish it all at ones. I've only rarely seen someone put away half a bag of potato chips (my personal nemesis). If you only have a small portion, I doubt you'll run back to the store to buy more.

The same goes for bottles of soda, pieces of cake, packages of candy. Buying the small portion may seem more expensive, but it will save you money in the long run and keep you healthier, because you will get used to only consuming the small portion.

So next time you're at the store looking for that snack to satisfy your craving, try to find the smallest bag/package/bottle/can available and buy only that one. Just having a taste can be enough to get rid of those nagging thoughts.
If there is no small size available, sharing can work wonders too cutting your portion at least in half!

Taking Time Off When You're Sick

Picture by Courtney Carmody

Dear readers, my apologies for the missed posts yesterday and the day before. As you can see, scrolling down, I have made them up. They are now posted. I haven't been feeling my best lately, and may continue to feel crappy for a little while. Nothing serious, so says the doc, but it does mean I have a difficult time getting everything done each day.  Some days are better than others.

As I mentioned before in my post on cutting yourself some slack, I don't really believe in forcing yourself if you don't feel 100%. You're better off getting back to your usual self as quickly as possible, and the best way to do that is by taking care of yourself. If you drag out sickness even longer, it'll only cost you more in the long run.

So my advice for today is to take some time off and to do that in the right way, so it really makes a difference.

First of all, try to clear your schedule as much as possible. If you're feeling under the weather or overly stressed, you won't be performing at your best anyways. The people who work with you will surely understand that a healthy employee/colleague is much more valuable than a sick one. 

Secondly, there are a couple of quick things you can do to help yourself get the rest you need. If you feel sick and find it hard to eat, try eating small, bland snacks: toast, raw fruits and vegetables, crackers, etc. Drink little sips of water throughout the day (not so much that your stomach feels full, otherwise you'll end up feeling sicker than before.)
Have a cup of herbal tea or green tea if you like, but stay away from things like coffee and black tea. The acidic nature of those can upset your stomach, and they won't make you feel sleepy either.
Preparing these snacks and drinks is a matter of minutes but will make your time off feel like what it's supposed to be: A moment to recharge your batteries and get all the rest you possibly can.

Last advice: Put some music or an audio book on your mp3 player before you go to bed. Close your eyes while you listen. The sound will distract you from how bad you're feeling, and you'll drift off to sleep before you know it!

I hate feeling sick, so throughout the years I've tried to come up with the best way to get over it as quickly as possible. Invariably that has been to try and sleep my way through it, occasionally waking up for drinks and small snacks. Luckily I don't get ill very often, but when I do, it usually takes me about two days at most to start feeling better.


What do you do when you're feeling ill? Do you try to push yourself and work as long as possible? Do you hold to the 'mind over matter' idea and try to push through the physical discomfort (like my hubby)?
Let me know!

Learn to Say 'No!'

Photo by Horia Varlan

Our time is not our own. No matter how much we may think we are in control of our own lives, we rely too much on others and let them rely on us to fully be our own boss. Think of the things you do for your boss, your partner, your children, your friends. You may spend hours a week, or per day, taking care of others' needs instead of your own. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. You get the same in return from those around you, it's a give and take system. And your time is a gift to those you love.

But sometimes the people around us require too much. More than we can give. They may ask you for a favor you don't want to perform, or for time you simply don't have. In those cases, it's best to just come out with a plain old 'No.'

Saying 'no' is not easy. We are confronted with a lot of feelings, such as guilt or shame, that we would prefer to avoid if possible. So, instead of saying 'no', we opt for 'yes' despite the fact that we may not really have the time or the ability to give in to the request. 

But even if you have spared yourself from the awkwardness of the situation, and of those undesirable feelings, you are now stuck with a promise you made that you may have to break. As I wrote before, breaking a promise is much more damaging to a relationship than turning down a request right away. Once you have committed to something, you should try your very best to follow up on that commitment.

So how do you say 'no' without all these negative feelings? How do you just deny your loved one what they ask for without it eating up you inside? Try to keep the following questions in mind when you're deciding on what to say:

1. Is it of vital importance to this person that I agree?
2. Is there anyone else who could take my place?
3. How much will my refusal or denial hurt the relationship?
4. Am I breaking a previous commitment by either saying 'yes' or 'no'? (to this person or to someone else.)

 If you need more time, you can always say you need to check your schedule. But I do recommend giving an answer as quickly as possible. It's no use fretting over what you're going to say for days, and feeling miserable the whole time. Just get it over with.

How do you feel about saying 'no' when someone asks you for help, or when you are invited to a party? Do you ever want to refuse but end up going anyways? 

Leave a Little Early

Running late

No one likes the stress of rushing to work. I hate it when I arrive late, or when I have no more than a couple of minutes to spare before I need to start teaching. Ideally, I arrive about 5 - 10 minutes early so I can fill in my papers and take a look at my lesson plans.
Not everyone has the same discipline though, and we don't have it all of the time. It helps however if you make leaving early part of your habit. And there is no better time to start than in the beginning of the new school year (or after any long holiday).

First of all, decide how long it takes you to travel to work. What's the longest time you have ever taken to get there? How long does it usually take?
Secondly, figure out what your 'leaving time' actually means. If you say you will leave at 7:30, does this mean that's the time you're out the door, or the time you start packing your things together? Those or not quite the same, it's about a 5 minute difference.
Add your preparation time and your traveling time. Then add however much extra time you would like to have to sip a cup of coffee or catch up with colleagues before you start your work day.
You then have the exact time you should start getting ready, and the time you need to be out of the house.

Having an extra couple of minutes means that there's a bit of flexibility. If you forget your phone and need to run back, it's not a big problem.

Do you usually like to arrive early, or are you someone who often runs late? What do you prefer?

Look on the Bright Side

Photo by Bruce Turner

The oldest advice in the book, and one I'm repeating today mainly because I need to remind myself of it.
I thought I was done teaching university students English here in China, turns out I'm not. Our boss had assured us we would only get two or three classes, but has set us up with a full schedule after all due to a teacher shortage.
So, not really what we were expecting or hoping.

That means it's time to take out those pink goggles and see the world in a whole new light: A bright light.
Teaching more classes means getting paid, keeping busy and active, meeting other foreigners on a more regular basis, etc. There's lots of good aspects too.

Just found out some bad news? Maybe you have to perform a task that you don't feel up to, or you need to meet with someone you really don't like. Maybe you just found out that an event that you'd been looking forward to, fell through. 
Take a few moments and try to spin the situation in the most positive light possible. 
Don't worry if it doesn't feel quite right yet. It takes a while for all those negative emotions to fade away. Try to regularly think of this task/event/change of plans in that positive light. Accept that there is nothing you can do to change it. Envision the positive results you will get once it's finished. 

Unpleasant tasks can come with great rewards, especially if they're challenging. Plans that fell through open up space to create new plans or take some you-time, and they can help you save money (if the plan was going to a show, for example.)

As you can tell, thinking positive is not easy. But it doesn't take a lot of initial effort, it just takes persistence. Write down some silver linings on pieces of paper and hide them where you know you'll find them (on the fridge, in your wallet, under your pillow).
We can't always control the way our lives unfold, but we can control the way we look at it.

Read the Label

"Cheese" by Oli Shaw

You know those small letters they have on clothes or on packages of food? You know how they got there? Years of consumer organizations struggling to get us, you and me, informed about what we're buying. We're used to seeing them on bottles, boxes and bags, but do you ever read them?

Well, it might not be such a silly idea.

While you're drinking your glass of juice for breakfast, read the information on the box. If you happen to have different boxes or bottles available, feel free to compare.
When you eat a snack, don't throw the wrapper out immediately but have a look at the ingredients on it. 
Buying a new t-shirt? There's a tag that will tell you where it was made. 

Even if you don't use the information, even if you don't change your mind based on it, it never hurts to be informed. Knowing what you put in your body is valuable, even if it is a dangerous chemical!

Reading these little words is a matter of seconds, but it can be a first step to living a healthier, happier and more satisfying life.

I once read a book (Food Rules: An Eater's Guide by Michael Pollan) which stated that if there is something on a food label that you don't understand, that you don't recognize as food, you should consider it a 'food stuff' instead of real food. Reading food labels I try to keep in mind that anything that looks like a chemical instead of a natural product is probably not that good for me. I'd rather eat sugar than high fructose corn syrup.
Reading the label on a bottle of juice, I like to see no more than: 100% juice (based on concentrate, in most cases).
Reading the labels on clothes, I love to see I am buying cotton or wool, and not acrylic or polyester. I also love seeing clothes with a fair-trade label instead of those made in Bangladesh or Thailand.

Whatever is on a label has been put there especially to keep you informed, usually against the will of the corporations who produce the product. It's your right to know.

Practice Patience

Picture by Gemma Bardsley

Patience is a virtue. I don't know how many times my elementary school teacher repeated that to us little kids. Patience wasn't very high on our list of priorities at the time, and for many of us, it's still something to work on. We find it harder and harder to wait in line, listen without interrupting and get put on hold. We can't imagine our valuable time slipping away and not being completely distraught over it.

But you know what? Patience is still a virtue, and it's still worth practicing.

There are countless situations in life that benefit from a patient attitude. Think of how much more comfortable it feels to stand in line patiently, for example, rather than feeling your heart race faster and faster because of how anxious you are. 
Patience will always benefit you because it's one of the best ways to prevent and reduce stress. It's an attitude shift toward acceptance.

But patience also benefits those around you. Having someone deal with you in a patient manner, listening patiently, waiting for you patiently, explaining something patiently, can make all the difference in the world. It's comforting, relaxing, and it does wonders for your relationships.

So next time 5 minutes seem to be slipping by and you're getting wound up over it thinking about how much better that time could be spent checking email, take a step back and try to become patient. Just wait for a moment. Just. Be.

Cut Yourself Some Slack

Photo by Jan Willem Stad

Some days are just not quite 'it'. And sure, we can beat ourselves up about it, and feel miserable about all the lost productivity and the total waste of time, but that never seems to help either. Yesterday was one of those days for me. I pretty much felt tired from morning to evening, even though I did take two naps in between. Half-way through the day, I decided to just give in to the feeling and let myself have an off day.

If you feel low on energy, or slightly depressed (can be weather-related as it often is in my case) how about just allowing yourself to take it easy for a while. Take a couple of minutes to clear as much from your schedule as possible, so that you can focus on relaxing, sleeping and resting for a couple of hours. 
Perhaps, these little 'downward curves' are just a way for our body to tell us it's time to take a break and recharge the batteries. 
Don't beat yourself up if you need some time to just do nothing. There's no point in doing anything but using this time to just veg out on the couch.

If you can't clear your schedule, just go through the motions. Chances are, you already know how to do your job pretty well, and there's no need to always perform at 110%. Allow your skills to carry you through the day, until you're back in bed and looking forward to a new day which can only be better. 

There is a strong stress on performance these days, for everyone. My students feel it, my fellow teachers feel it,  my family and friends feel it. The people around us and the systems in which we work come with high demands. It's not unusual that at times we need to be able to just go through a day without giving in to all these expectations and demands.

Do you ever have days like this? Where it seems like you have no desire to do anything but sleep? How do you handle it? Do you try to motivate or energize yourself, or do you just go with the flow?
I bet people handle this kind of thing very differently depending on who they are.

Let Despair Inspire

(source)

For those of you who have been keeping up with the news, the stories of the riots in London, and other big cities in England, can't have escaped your attention. I was reading up on some eye-witness accounts yesterday, and the words of teenagers who are stealing and destroying property, and I couldn't help feeling shocked, enraged, and in the end, desperate. A feeling of 'what has the world come to' overcame me, and I had a hard time finding anything positive left to focus on.

And then I read this story about an old Hackney woman who told off some of the kids on the street. She treated them as what they are: kids run amok. And in seeing the video (you can watch it here), I felt inspired again in seeing that the worst can often bring out the best in people.

Life will throw a lot of situations at you that you didn't prepare for, and that you feel you may be unable to handle. It can be full of heart-ache and tragedy. In moments like that, there is often a sense of despair that is incredibly hard to shake off. It's like we can't imagine how the world could possible ever be a good place again. I remember how learning about the holocaust left me feeling that way for a couple of days. 

But those moments, however horrendous they may be, also offer opportunities to go beyond our limits and show ourselves stronger and more resilient than we've ever been before.
In a couple of desperate moments, we can realize that caring about something so deeply, gives us a power that we may not have felt before.

My thoughts go out to all of those who are affected by chaos, violence and destruction, not only in London the last couple of days, but also in other places and at other times.
I hope that from all this pain, a new strength and a new sense of resolution can find its way to both victims and perpetrators.

Worth Every Minute

I like zenhabits.net. Sometimes it's a bit over the top, but I often find very valuable and worthwhile thoughts on there. Plenty of the things I do in my daily life, stem from zen habits in one way or another.

Today is Wednesday, so I want to share another article with you. This one is about making decisions. We make a ton of decisions in our daily life, and some of them can really pose problems. We can take an awful long time deciding on things that don't really matter in the end at all, like what to have for dinner. I've written about deciding before in the post Make a Decision!

What Leo Babauta does in this article, is give you some ideas to make decision making easier. He explains that we are obsessed with making the 'right' decision, but that often we can't because we don't have all the information it takes to make that right decision.
As a way to help us decides, he asks you to listen to your intuition and view every decision as a chance to gain more information, to learn something. I hope you get something out of this one too:

Effortless Decision-Making by Leo Babauta

Let me know what you think!

5 Reasons To Check the Weather Forecast

Storm over by Monday night

We've got a typhoon heading our way! By the time it reaches us, it won't be a more than a big storm, but still big enough to require some preparation (close windows, put screens up, etc). And how did I find out about it? We invited our boss out to dinner, and he said he'd have to wait and see what the typhoon did. I had to ask whether I heard him correctly. But sure thing, when I checked the weather report, it had the words 'typhoon' in bright red letters underneath.

Weather reports are one of those things we take for granted. Perhaps, we have forgotten how great they really are. 
It only takes you a couple of minutes to check a website that has the weather forecast. There's plenty of good ones available now. And what are the advantages? To name a few:

1. Save money. You don't have to buy another umbrella cause you made sure to bring your own when you saw the chance of rain. 
2. Be comfortable. You packed an extra sweater for that chilly weather on your holiday destination.
3. Plan ahead. You stocked up on groceries, so you don't have to run out in the snow.
4. Adapt. You postponed the BBQ, or got a tent, so your meat doesn't get soaked.
5. Warn others. Your neighbors, family and friends are eternally grateful to you for providing them with this excellent information! (Thanks boss!)

Are you a weather-forecast-checker or an I'll-take-it-as-it-comes kinda person? Have you ever wished you had checked the weather report, but didn't? Do you feel worse for knowing bad weather is heading your way?

I love to hear your comments (anyone still there?) and you can rate the posts below as well! Let me know which ones are your favorites.

Worry Work

Picture by Brian Rosen

I'm a bit of a worrywart. I try to be carefree and casual, but in the end I can't stop myself from imagining worst case scenarios. The hubby is 20 minutes late? He must have gotten hit by a bus (not an unlikely scenario in China), and of course, if he didn't get killed instantly, he doesn't have a phone and speaks no Chinese, so he's probably in a coma and in a hospital somewhere in the city where I will never find him.
I've gotten better over the years, but it's still difficult to quiet those voices in my head. So I've stopped trying. Now, I just try to calm myself by using my worrying to my advantage.

I know I'm going to worry, there's no going around it. But why do we do it? Maybe because we're afraid of something that is so devastating and unexpected, it would destroy our life. Completely. If something would ever happen to my hubby, I can't imagine what I would do!


Or wait ... . Maybe that's the problem. What if I use this worrying impulse to find out what I would do in case something did happen.
You can use your worst case scenarios in your mind to plan for possible emergencies. Using your worrying instinct this way makes sure that it isn't a complete waste of energy. And you get the reassurance of realizing that, just in case, life wouldn't come to an end if the unthinkable happened.


WARNING: In case you're not someone to worry much, and imagining these scenarios completely freaks you out, take it in small steps (or don't do this at all). It's much less stressing to imagine your undies turning pink due to a red sock in your machine than your house catching fire. But it's good to have a plan in either case.

We worry because we care. And that is all the more reason to make sure we're prepared for any situation that may arise. Doesn't knowing what you should do when the plane goes down make you feel safer already?
What is something you worry about? What would you do if the worst possible scenario came true?