Dear Cat:

You stated it very well: “Too often I get devoured by a feeling- be it panic, despair, sadness”-

Devoured, an appropriate verb. I remember being devoured by feelings, being pulled down into the abyss, a point of no return, about to lose my footing in reality. I was very desperate, willing to hold on to anything at all so to stop the fall. I was too scared and too scattered to do what needed to be done.

“to remember the bigger picture” takes going in your brain to a calm place. While feeling devoured, exit that place in your brain where you experience that, and go to another place, a calm place. From the calm place watch, observe the devoured experience.

The devoured, panicking, despairing experience is part of you, not all of you.

About the changing circumstance about your work, you may get trapped in the thought: if only this didn’t happen (having to get back to 100% work sooner than planned), then I wouldn’t be… devoured. Correction: there will always be something. Always something not expected, not as hoped for, not as planned or wished for ( Noel not answering the phone when you needed him to is another such thing).

Focus not on hoping for what will not happen: a smooth sailing in life, things happen the way you wish them to happen.

Instead, focus on finding a calm place in your brain, a bigger picture observatory location in your brain, and return to that place when needed.

While in this place, observe the devoured part (so you have the information you need) and decide on a best plan of action.

anita