Well no doubt about it, we are deep into September. The weather even has shifted, a bit drastically for my liking. September is back to school, back to work, back to fall activities – back to structure.
We can brace ourselves for the fall season or we can plan actively for the coming year. Many of my clients present with much anxiety because they are constantly reacting to ‘false-emergency’ situations. I say false because had some planning been put into place many of these ’emergency ” situations could have been avoided.
Take several of my male clients who are newly separated/divorce dads. These guys fly by the seat of their pants and are caught with hearts palpitating because they did not envision that : the first day of school was only for one hour; that planning a trip away and then letting the children’s Mom know at the last minute that schedules need to be shifted is not a good idea; that you cannot assume a babysitter will be available on a same day request.
So whether you are a divorced dad or not the lesson to learn is the following: If you go through much of your life bracing yourself for whatever happens then you will go through the year doing damage control i.e. dealing with one crisis after another – always a bit late in getting things done and often carrying way too much anxiety around with you. However if you can imagine the coming year and the various events that are within it then you can actively plan for it and be ready and welcoming for whatever September and the rest of the year bring.
Imagine being ready in a relaxed way, and when the real emergencies occur you will have the resiliency to deal with them.
