By Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
Aug. 16, 2008
Several years ago, a glamorous college football player was drafted by a professional team that had done very poorly over many years. The young athlete had the "golden arm," movie star looks, and a magnificent personality — and had broken every conceivable passing record. He had a label that said "cannot miss." However, his first three seasons as a professional athlete were a bitter disappointment. At one point, the professional scouts and front office really wondered how they could have made such a mistake.
With careful analysis of his dismal performance, it became very clear what had happened.
The athlete frankly admitted that he had lost his focus. He had become distracted, and his energy and vitality on the athletic field were siphoned off and diluted by personal issues. These included the following:
* A failed personal relationship
* Contingency lawsuits
* Failed business relationships involving poor legal advice
An important lesson that our athlete lost and a lesson that is important for each of us is the ability to put distractions, setbacks and disappointments into a "compartment." A compartment could be viewed as a psychological box, as a mental container into which we put our disappointments, our frustrations, our setbacks. At the end of the day, we deal with these issues as best we can but then we wrap up the box and put it on the shelf and get on with the rest of our lives. If we ruminate over these activities, if we stew over them, they will burn a hole in our stomach, burn a hole in our souls, and we are poorly equipped then to deal with the challenges of life.
I have often asked longtime cancer survivors how they have dealt with their illness and almost without exception they have the gift to recognize that they are not their cancer, they are not their diagnosis, but somehow can put their illness and their disappointments into a box, into a container, and move on with life as best they can.
Does this philosophy make any sense? Can those of us in the blog community relate and expand on this notion of putting life's disappointments and frustrations into a box, into a compartment?
From MayoClinic.com published on Aug. 16, 2008