Taking Control With A Little Reverse Pyschology

Hopefully this will be my last post about my unlucky streak, because I think I have solved the problem.  While I am sure you are sick of reading about it, I am going to share what I have come up with because one of you might find yourself in a similar situation some day and if you do, maybe you will remember my solution.

A friend of mine told me to turn around counter clockwise 3 times and that reverses bad luck.  While I thought that was a bit silly, it did get me to thinking.  I needed to turn the situation around...but how?  Then suddenly it hit me.  I went and bought a chocolate bar. 

Now I know you're probably thinking what?  A chocolate bar?  You see, I am allergic to chocolate.  When I eat it I break out in hives.  But I figured a night of itching was worth it.

If you're still scratching your head...what I did was choose to cause something bad to happen.  By doing that I took control of it.  Once you have control of the reins, you're the one driving the carriage as opposed to having it run away with you at break neck speed. 

Bad luck isn't a real state of being.  It's all mental.  When a couple bad things in a row happen it sends you into a downward spiral.  So naturally the more upset you get the more you focus on it and the more bad things happen because you begin to expect it.  I knew that all along, but I hadn't figured out how to get out of the spiral and combat it.   In reality some of the things that happened weren't that bad.  But compounded they seemed to be at the time.  So I had to get back into the proverbial driver seat instead of feeling as if the universe was conspiring against me and I was helpless to fight some unseen foe. 

I already have a much improved state of mind.  Now I can't say for sure something bad won't happen tomorrow, but I don't expect it to.  Even if it does, I am the one in control and I can handle it!

Some Day's It Pays To Loiter

I had a terrible outbreak of hives this morning. So I took an allergy pill, went back to bed and slept really late. They make me sleepy. I woke up a little before 3, and crawled out of bed all blurry eyed and groggy. I couldn't conceive of going anywhere, but R is out of town which meant I had to forage for food.

Normally I order Chinese when he isn't home, because he doesn't like it, I love it, and I don't like to cook. I wasn't really in the mood for it today though. That meant I had to force myself to get out of the house.

I am not a huge fan of fast food, but I like Wendy's salads. However, I recently discovered that we had a Taco John's here. I loved Taco John's as a kid. At one point they closed them all down. Since I hadn't ever been to it, I looked it up on the map and set out. I thought after I would go to Barnes & Noble and see if they had the new Somerset Holiday's & Celebrations magazine in. It was supposed to be out yesterday.

I set out, and about 3 miles from home it started to rain. As it turned out Taco John's was nearly 9 miles away. I know that isn't far, but I had to drive in an area of town I don't usually go to, and am not familiar with. The streets are really eccentric over there and it was interesting getting there. When I finally saw it I still had a hard time actually getting to the parking lot entrance. By the time I pulled into the drive through, the sky had opened up and was dumping rain by the bucket full. The inside of my car and I got absolutely soaked despite the awning. Sadly it wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be either.

From there I went on to Barnes & Noble. In an uncharacteristic moment of forgetfulness I couldn't remember the name, nor the author of the book I wanted to pick up. I also wanted to check out a particular cookbook I had heard reviewed. I thought I might have a Donna Reed moment and whip up something spectacular. The cookbook didn't have anything R and I would both eat. We have very different tastes. He is a meat and potato's guy, and I like seafood and veggies.

I headed over to the magazine section and didn't see the magazine I wanted. I know it's only the 2nd, and sometimes they take up to a week to make their way to Colorado after being released, but for some reason I couldn't process that it wasn't there. I wandered around the store and went back to check to make sure I hadn't missed it.

I still didn't see it, but I did find Martha Stewart's Halloween issue. Nobody does Halloween like Martha! So I grabbed that and a couple other magazines. My brain was still rejecting the idea that the one I wanted wasn't there. I am not sure why. I stood there staring so long, that I noticed a guy sitting in a chair covertly watching me. He was probably wondering if there was something wrong with me.

I wandered off around the store again. I just couldn't quite bring myself to leave. After another round through the store I made a third visit to the magazine section. Low and behold...someone had brought out a cart of magazines. On the bottom shelf I saw the edge of one sticking out, it was a deep coral color, and I just KNEW that had to be it. I don't even know why I knew that one was the one. I had no idea what the cover looked like. I looked around for an employee because I am never sure if you are supposed to take things off the cart or not. I couldn't find one and finally reached down and grabbed it. Eureka! It was the one I wanted. By this time the guy in the chair was openly staring at me.

While I guess wasn't actually loitering per se', it does pay to be patient sometimes because the late sleeping bird gets the worm too! I am going to go look at my magazines now!

Hugs, K <3