Attitude Adjustment - How to Change Your Attitude!
By Tina Tessina
I have written in this column recently about emotional hygiene, and doing the necessary maintenance on feelings as well as your physical body and household. Health reminders tell us to wash our hands frequently to prevent transmittal of diseases. Did you know you can "wash" your mood, too, and give yourself an attitude adjustment whenever you want to?
When I want to have a pleasant time with Richard, I know it's important to manage my mood and keep myself on an even keel-if anything happens that's disappointing, annoying, upsetting or stressful, I need to re-balance myself and not let it get to me or spoil the day.
Here are some ideas for how to turn your attitude around in the most common mood-disrupting situations:
Disappointment and Expectations
We all have high hopes and rosy pictures of the future when we enter a new situation or relationship. So when life turns out not to be perfect, things don't go the way you hoped, or you find out your partner actually is an imperfect human, just like you, it's disappointing. You may begin by expecting that your partner will always see your point of view, or that as long as you love each other, everything will be OK, but after a while, reality breaks through and you realize your expectations were unrealistic. If you feel you're constantly disappointed and frequently angry, consider that it may be because your expectations don't line up with reality.
No matter how little reality resembles your dreams, there's no need to squabble about it. We all deal with many disappointments in daily life, at home and at work. In most cases, neither you nor your partner would argue with the boss, colleagues at work, or your child's teacher the way you argue with each other. In domestic situations, you can choose your behavior in the same way-you don't have to argue with each other. Instead of bickering like children, use your grownup self-control to pull yourself out of the argument. If you're fighting over silly little things, remember you're having symbolic fights-it's not really about who didn't put the cap on the toothpaste, it's about disappointment, who is right, who has the most power, or who deserves to be loved. Do's and Don'ts for Handling Disappointment OK, so you're disappointed. Your dream has ended in the trashbin. You may want to lay on the floor, kicking your heels, and screaming; or go on a drunken binge, or beat someone up, but if you try it, you'll find you're still disappointed, and all that acting out hasn't fixed anything. Disappointment is a dead-end in your road; so you need to figure out a new direction.
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