On optimism

I was AIMing with one of my closest friends when something we were talking about triggered a memory of how my mom dealt with my many scrapes and bruises and bumps when I was a toddler.

If I fell and scraped myself up or banged my head on a table corner or anything, if it didn’t immediately look serious, in the interim between the shock and the torrent of tears, my mom would start laughing and try to get me to laugh with her, pointing out how surprising and funny it (the falling, bumping, etc.) was, sometimes tickling me, until I was laughing along with her. Within a matter of seconds, the pain will have had faded away and I won’t have had felt panicked and scared and would go away on my merry way to get into more scrapes. If I hurt myself in a somewhat serious manner, my mom would say firmly but gently (but not in any sort of panicked way) that it was alright and treat the injury with efficiency. I never hurt myself in a majorly seriously way, so I don’t know what she’d do, but when my sister broke her arm, she stayed calm and got things done, so I’m sure she would have handled it the same way.

I don’t know how strong the link is, but generally (NOT always, as demonstrated by my poor mood this morning over a bunch of little things) I take the small bumps in the road without panic or stress. Little unimportant irritations are usually easy to laugh off (although I find myself getting crankier of late; just practicing to be a crotchety old lady, I suppose). I feel like I generally reserve real stress for things that are truly important to me: things that pertain to family & friends & my relationship with them.

Anyway, I wonder if there is a real tangible link between how my mother dealt with my injuries and how I view the small bumps & bruises of life. Would I be a different person if my mother freaked out over the smallest falls and let me cry myself into a panic over them? Dog training has taught me that this kind of reaction can make the difference between a well-adjusted dog and a dog that can freak out over the smallest things and cower in fear at life in general. Surely, we are not too different.