Recognizing Patterns: Overcoming Panic

I opened the mailbox, and there was an ad inside for Family Dental. They were offering a back-to-school special for children without dental insurance for $18. This almost effortlessly answered a problem that had come up yesterday, when my wife called me in a panic to say that Lexi needed a dental exam by the end of the week for school, and she didn’t have the money for it. Then I opened the next letter, and it was a tax notice. I had planned on paying the remaining balance over the next two months, before the end of the year, but now they had gotten collections involved and were threatening wage garnishment and other unpleasant consequences. Initially, I felt heat rise along the back of my body, and my neck began to tense. It lasted only a brief moment. Then I thought to myself, “Hmm, that’s interesting.” The heat fell away, and the tension released from my neck. I instantly recognized the pattern I have been studying in myself for months now. The mind racing to solve the problem and…