Ok, maybe not a well thought out party…. but it seems like everyone wants an invite to this kind of event.  I’m referencing the Jet Blue guy that lost his cool.   (If you’re out of loop watch this video)  He’s being called a cult hero, has hundreds of thousands of Facebook fans, and t-shirts made about him.   Intrigued with the public response to this story?   So am I.

Bursting like a wonka blueberry? Find the Release.

So truth be told, what do you really think of the flight attendant’s outburst?   I know I wasn’t outraged, and yea, you kind of feel for the guy – he  has to deal with rude people all the time.

Well, we all can relate, right?  We hold things in….we tolerate what happens ‘to us’…we don’t express our true feelings… then we want to explode & let it go!

We’re like Violet turning Violet in Willy Wonka. (come on, just for fun, watch

But really, who wants to explode like a giant blueberry?
Wouldn’t the healthier approach forgo the build up of tension and just maintain the balance so that we can ride the steady wave rather than the roller coaster?

This strategy can be applied to our relationship to food, work, home, etc.  In our modern world we tend to take on more than we should ‘chew’, and don’t support ourselves in dealing with the excess.   (In terms of food, have you ever been on a junk food kick… where you figure at this point, you might as well just keep eating junk until you can’t stand it, and have to eat something healthier?  Or maybe it’s not that extreme….maybe its just in that moment that you’re feeling full, but you’re still gonna eat that dessert…until you feel so full that you’re ready to burst at the seams).   This is the same action/attitude as taking on too much work on the job – whether it’s filling up with stress, or food…it’s all the same outcome; when we feel too full, we get to a place of disgust and overwhelm.

In our relationship to food, the pushing to the extreme doesn’t come with a happy release… it comes with the guilt, the shame, the sadness. the hatred.  Likewise the pushing to the extreme with work comes with overwhelm, anxiety, hostility…  The point is: food, work, life… we’ve got to find the release before we go beyond our limit.

So how do we find the balance before we get to that place that takes us over the edge?  Well there are little things we can do that make a big difference: commit to ‘releasing’ on a regular basis/commit to your own down time:  yoga, sitting & breathing for 5 mins/day, taking a walk, calling a friend.

And if those little things aren’t enough, and the blueberry is still growing and growing…then maybe it’s time to take a look at the cause of the ‘growing’ problem, and make a change.   Making that change all comes from a place of self-love.  Do you love yourself: enough to slow down? Enough to recognize when something isn’t working for you?  Enough to realize you’ve had enough? Enough to choose a way that will better support you?  Enough to say no?  Enough to get support?

Acknowledging your own worth is the first step to finding balance.  You deserve to be on the even keel…. you deserve to avoid the feeling that you can’t take it anymore – you deserve to feel good all the time.   (And you can feel these things – Violet escaped the pressure and so can you).