D is for Drama

This post is part of the Sunday Series The ABCs of Getting Well Grounded

Drama. It’s intense. Shocking. Emotional. And it’s often a major source of stress, which can be very detrimental in our lives. But, it can also be its own antidote!? It can be delicious.

Here’s a slice of my latest drama story, as well as how I used a different kind of drama to let go of the negativity (“bad drama”) and take back my joy, calm, and sense of fun.

Last Thursday, a very unhappy man (I can only assume) decided to have my car towed, without cause. Unfortunately, just cause doesn’t matter when your car has disappeared and you’re left with no choice than to walk to the tow lot in torrential rain in order to pay $100 to reclaim your property.  Errrrrrrrrr. I try to take things in stride, especially when there’s nothing I can do to change my situation, but I was certainly feeling some drama (anger, frustration, worry, money stress, etc.) in that moment.  I tried to breathe and consciously let it all go, but I was feeling particularly fired up, so I did what most of us do in these moments — I picked up the phone with the intent to vent!  I’m very lucky to have a mother who graciously allowed me to take my time and work it all out, and who also helped me let it all go, once I was feeling a bit calmer.  Thanks again, Mom!  

Alright.  That’s enough dwelling on that part of the drama.  Here’s what came next.  First, as I mentioned, I made the conscious decision to (1) let go of the anger, frustration, and negativity I was experiencing and (2) open myself up to seeing the positive things around me.  As soon as I shifted my mindset from negative to positive, things changed.  I felt calm.  My breathing reverted from shallow, rapid chest breathing back to deep, even belly breathing.  Two minutes later, I received an email request from a colleague for a bulk order of my holiday tea.  And five minutes after responding to that email, a friend called and asked me to meet her for dinner and drinks at a cozy local pub.  Magically, the evening had shifted to all good.  I’ll admit, though, that I awoke the next morning with a lingering feeling of annoyance about the previous day’s drama, and this is where my drama antidote came into play.  I decided to crowd out that lingering annoyance with my own brand of “good drama”, so I headed off to my local organic salon and dyed my hair red.  Ha!  Take that!  It’s not that dramatic, but it was enough.  In an instant, I started feeling excited and different and fun.  It worked.  I’d created my own delicious and empowering ‘drama’ to shake off the negative drama that had crept in the day before.  All gone.

(And, as an added bonus, now that parking attendant guy won’t recognize me when I come back to exact my revenge.  Hee hee.  Just Kidding ).

eat well.  live well.  be well.  treat drama with drama.