15 - Outer Order = Inner Calm

Welcome back to I Wanna Be Me When I Grow Up. My name is Kara.

Today we are talking about the role organization plays in a well lived life. The phrase I use for this is another I borrowed directly from author and podcaster Gretchen Rubin - Outer Order = Inner Calm.

One of my superpowers is making order out of chaos. Unfortunately, our greatest strengths are also very often our greatest weaknesses.

In order to use my superpower of making our out of chaos, I often make chaos so that I can order it.

While knowing this about myself has helped dramatically in cutting down the chaos making, it is still a piece of self knowledge that I always have to keep at the fore front - where I am complicating something that doesn't need to be complicated?

In the end, I know that order makes me happy and does make me calmer. It's why the very first online class that I'm developing - The Facts of Life Book Course - is all about making order out of our most important information so that we have it in life's most urgent moments. Let's dive into today's questions to see whether or not order and organization needs to play a role in your wellness framework.

1. Do you like things neat and tidy or are you okay with some mess and disorder? How much of either one (neat/tidy - mess/disorder) is too much for you?

2. What routines and habits are vital to your happiness and wellbeing? How do you protect these routines? If a habit that brought you great joy has fallen away, how could you begin gently reintroducing it or an appropriate modification to it in your life?

3. How do you actively cultivate inner calm? Don't have a strategy - here is my favorite super simple strategy that you can do anywhere - it's called box breathing. I like this best if I close my eyes while I do it, but that isn't required which makes it one of the best strategies in a stressful situation for calming yourself. Breathe in slowly as you count in your head to four, hold your breath for a slow count of four, slowly exhale for another count of four, and hold for another count of four. Repeat as many times as needed and then allow your breathing to return to normal.

   I'm going to end today's episode a little differently - a slightly longer story than usual with another practical tool for helping cultivate inner calm. Before we go to that story though, two more quick calls to action.

   First, if inner calm is a strategy you need to cultivate for yourself, make a list of possible techniques for cultivating inner calm. A few of my favorites include a short walk outdoors weather permitting and if not a short walk indoors, breathing techniques like box breathing, writing down whatever is in my head and tangling my thoughts (usually on paper - definitely NOT on social media), or practicing gratitude and/or an act of kindness towards someone else.

   My second call to action is if you need to develop a more ordered set of documents and information for you life, check out my website at factsoflifebook.com and consider signing up for lifetime access to the course. My aim is to not make it cost prohibitive and to create a supportive community of folks who are helping each other on this journey. I'd love to have you join us if that's you.

   A final story for today. I took my seat on a flight to Orlando, Florida one evening. Just before the boarding door closed, a woman sat down in the middle seat next to me. She was clearly shaken and a little distressed. She also kept coughing and seemed as though she was having a little trouble catching her breath. My initial reaction was annoyance but I soon recognized the signs of a panic attack. I started chatting with her and after getting her to stop apologizing, I asked her if she had ever had a panic attack. She said no. I asked her to try something. Touch a physical object in your line of vision and name it - out loud. She did this - touching her jacket and saying jacket. I encouraged her to do it five or six more --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/iwannabeme/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/iwannabeme/support