I’m very excited – I have coined a new term: LIFE SNAGS.

It was birthed this past week from my sheer craziness of flying-off the handle each time I was confronted with a minor situation not to my liking. I would prefer to think of myself as a person who copes, but you would have never known that if you witnessed my emotional, high-pitched reaction to every “life snag” that came my way.



The definition of a snag is a problem or obstacle that hinders progress.

I have had plenty of those in the last few days:

My Airline Woes:     I cancel a airline reservation and it doesn’t go through. (Okay, things like that happen occasionally.)
     Due to a snafu, I am assigned a middle seat, not a window seat that I strongly prefer, on a recent flight. (Poor, poor me.)
     I cycle through four different airline agents over a three-hour period in an attempt to transfer airline miles to my husband’s account – a procedure that usually is seamless and takes but a few minutes. (Poor, poor, poor me.) 

My Pest Control Woes:      My friendly, reliable pest control technician comes by for his monthly service and lets out a huge yelp when spraying behind our gazebo. In hearing distance on the porch, I call out if all is okay.
     “Kinda,” he replies. “I just saw a large rat scurry away!”
     My stomach flip-flops as bitter bile rises upward in my throat.
     “What?” I screech. “Are you kidding me?”
     “Nope,” he replies with the utmost seriousness.
     That little chat cost me a pretty penny as I hastily agreed to have four rodent boxes installed in my yard, guaranteed to keep those threatening rodents away from our yard.
     Afterward, a wave of Buyer’s Remorse hits me.
     Was he lying?
     Was he exaggerating?
     Was he just play acting so I’d spend a hefty sum and he would get a commission?

That’s how we think nowadays. My hasty reaction and my unkind, suspicious thoughts were quite unsettling and upsetting.

My Life Snags, nowadays, are routinely followed by my throwing a temper tantrum, coupled with a slew of tears streaming down both cheeks, messing with my very carefully applied mascara.
 
This is MY THEORY: The world is in turmoil. The craziness, the uncertainly, the randomness of tragedy engulfs us. I would have taken all of these life snags in stride years ago – maybe even months ago. But no more.

Each minor annoyance, each added irritation, only adds to my fully fueled, excessively sensitive state of anxiety. I over-react, exhaust myself, try to calm myself before the next onslaught of life snags descends on me.

My reaction level is in a perpetually very high gear. And I realize chaos and uncertainly is our new reality and each of us needs to find healthy ways to deal with it. We need to adapt to the new world order of constant flux, constant chaos and mayhem.

Sure we can practice mindfulness. We can limit our news consumption, cultivate gratitude for the blessings in our life, establish routines and make and maintain personal rituals. But how can we make a difference – how can we contribute somehow to positive change?

We can start by educating ourselves on the issues that matter to us and make an effort to understand the complexities of those issues. 

And we can advocate for change:

Stop attacking each other and listen,Write our elected officials,Support those candidates whose values align with our own, Participate in rallies,Use social media responsibly to express our opinions. We can practice kindness, show consideration, be helpful to friends, family and neighbors.And we can hope that “this too will pass” and calmer days will prevail.

 
Keep Preserving Your Bloom,