A Story Of Emotional Control

This past weekend I was out of town visiting my family and something I had always feared happened…

First thing Sunday morning I got out of the house to go for a run, and drove my grandma’s car down the street to go for a run along a nice trail. I was feeling good halfway through the run but then suddenly realized my grandma’s car key fell out of my pocket and it could be anywhere in about a mile long stretch on the trail.

Immediately my mind wanted to freak out… What does this mean? How do I get to a spare? Oh shoot, my wallet is in the car and I need to get on a flight tomorrow! But because of a lot of the mindfulness work I’ve done I was able to control my emotions and be thoughtful about my approach.

I’m really proud of my response. One of the first things that came to mind was to say “Thank you”, and choose to believe that what I was experiencing was meant to happen. It represents an underlying belief I have that I have faith that things will work out how they’re meant to, and it helps me manage adversity. 

From that state of mind I was able to take calculated action, not move too fast, and give myself a chance to find the key. I knew I need to first quantify the task, which  involved scanning the trail a few times, so I took a picture of where I was on the trail so that I knew how far I needed to search. Then I simulated a running motion to figure out the key must’ve only lightly fallen out of my pocket and is likely to be on the edge of the trail.

From there I started retracing my steps carefully scanning each side of the edge of the trail. With a clear mind I could stay focused and not get caught up in distractingly emotional thoughts, and brainstorm some contingency plans if I didn’t find the key. I came up with some good ideas and it further settled my mind so I could apply myself to the task.

I continued searching all the way back to the car and didn’t find the key. I started getting nervous, but before giving up committed to doing one more complete scan up the trail before considering the key lost. Fortunately I found it in plan sight on the side of the trail.

I share this because I approached this micro-adversity from a very logical and stoic perspective, and it maximized my ability to succeed. Emotions have a way of hijacking our rational thinking, and in moments where that’s critical, it’s important to have strategies to keep a level head.

And I’ve learned my lesson and from now on will keep important items in more secure places when I go for a run!