Do you bow up or bow out?

 

Fight or flight?

I can only imagine the number of blog entries and google searches pertaining the caveman instinct of fight or flight.  I probably should have researched this overquoted stress response prior to declaring myself informed enough to post a blog but I did not.  I chose not to become the hyper-informed Googler on this topic because I simply want to make application to the level I currently understand and not complicate my opinion with clinical facts.  This is a blog, after all, not www.webmd.com. 

The question is not ‘do you fight or flee?’.  What I really want to know is what route you take when you run? 

In animation a strong squeeze to the adrenal gland might trigger flaming red face, steam blowing from the ears, or feet running in thin air. I was not looking in the mirror last time my hormones topped out so I may have been red faced and steamy eared but I was not physically in motion.  In my head and possibly my heart, I was circling the world like a rocket ship or perhaps a balloon that was inflated and then released to blow spit like a fire hose.  Either way, I was very much running.

What sets me into flight may not trigger a response from you at all but yesterday I was caught metaphorically with my skirt tucked into my pantyhose.  You know that feeling?  All dressed up and feeling the power.  Briefcase in one hand, latte in the other.  For those of you that didn’t follow the dressed-up-briefcase-carrying-latte-drinking symbolism, imagine you look like Jackie O until you pass a mirror to see Lucy Ball looking back at you.  Don’t hate.  No one is more of a Lucy fan than me and Ethel.  However, my attitude was in drag thinking Jackie but my actions were Lucy in pantyhose so I looked for the open door.  I was run ready.  Release the spit balloon.

I did not physically run, leave or even fake a seizure.  I closed my computer.  I poured a cup of coffee.  I sat in my recliner.  I watched the wind chime wiggle in the breeze.  I updated my resume.  I sipped my coffee. I reread my most current resignation letter. I opened www.Indeed.com.

The lesson here:

Whether you bow up or bow out recognize your actions, own it, and know it comes at a cost. For me, a strategically placed speed bump will keep me from getting too far, tripping on my shoe laces, or carrying around too many regrets.