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    • Dec 15, 2018
    • 2 min read

What do you do when things are going wrong?

This past Friday night was supposed to be special. Our family was going to start a new tradition for the five of us. We were going to bake and decorate Christmas cookies. We had everything lined up for success – calendars were blocked out, bought all the ingredients, borrowed the unique kitchen supplies needed, and excitement built for this night all week long.

Well, then the night started.

One daughter was 15 minutes late, so we had to remind her of family rules, which led her to tears. My son was playing around with the flour and made a mess. For some reason, the Christmas music we were listening to kept playing the rock and roll Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which was making us all irritated.

So, we had a few options.

We could accept the status quo and keep going, quit out of frustration, or recalibrate and move forward.

Knowing this evening was headed in the wrong direction. We stopped and recalibrated. We did a quick prayer asking God to come into the evening, get rid of the spiritual warfare of frustration and anger, and replace with fun and joy. Next, we fixed the music to be more enjoyable holiday music!

Then we are off to the races! The night went great and I am so thankful we did not quit or accept the cruddy start.

This happens in all areas of our life.

A work project is starting off wrong. You wake up in a bad mood and discouraged. A bad conversation with a coworker. Your teenager is being disrespectful. A fender bender on the way to work. You don’t like the text you just received from your spouse. Prospects keep saying no.

We can accept all of these as ‘poor me’ or ‘that’s just the way it is in my life’ or we pause and recalibrate. Yes, there is pain and suffering, but we are talking about when things are going well for the most part, but you hit a mental speed bump.

How can we recalibrate?

I had a great conversation with a client and friend this past week about ways I recalibrate. As I type this, maybe that conversation was for me so I would remember it during our cookie making!

Ways I recalibrate that you may find helpful:

  1. Pray – I often will invite God into whatever is currently frustrating me. What is the bigger picture?

  2. Journal – My go to is journaling about things I am grateful for. Doing this can often shift the mindset.

  3. Music – Whether it is spiritual music or some fun Top 40 music, whatever can get me in a grateful mood.

  4. Read my identity statement – email me if you want to learn about this

  5. Walk around the building if you are at work

  6. If you can, close your eyes for 20 minutes

Next time you are frustrated with a current project or process, and you know it is the right thing to do, then stop and recalibrate.

I love to learn other ways, so please email me ways that you recalibrate.

Thank you for reading,

Cory

Download ’10 Ways to Win at Home’: https://www.corymcarlson.com/welcome

Identity ceremony we did for our daughter last summer continues to be discussed with others. Read this if interested in learning about it.

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