Worries In The Forecast

The glass doors slid open, and I stepped outside cautiously. It was raining, but the sky was lighter than it had been thirty minutes earlier. A jolt of relief ran through my body, and I took a deep breath. The threat of a tornado had passed, and it was safe to walk to my car.

Or so I thought.

A rumble of thunder rolled across the clouds, and I darted across the parking lot. Just as I lifted the remote to unlock my car, a flash of lightening flooded the sky. I began to run faster and tried to shut my umbrella, which is old and would not close easily. When I arrived at my car, I shoved the opened umbrella inside and quickly followed it.

I had made it. I was safe, but still shaking. What if I had gotten struck by lightening? Right before I had ventured out into the dying storm, a fellow worrywart told me she knows someone who got struck by lightening once, and the only thing that saved her were her rain boots. Of course, that’s all I could think of as I ran to the car last week.

So now that winter is nearing its end, I no longer have to worry about icy roads. Isn’t that great? Instead, I have tornadoes and severe weather to worry about for the next several months.

Why do I worry about the weather - whether it’s snow or ice or tornadoes - so much? Maybe because it’s something I can’t control. I know many people say not to worry about something if it’s out of your control, but that’s when I seem to worry about things the most - when they are out of my control. I think that’s why I worry about blood clots so much; even though regular exercise and staying active can help to prevent them, sometimes not much can stop the formation of the clots.

I know it’s not healthy to worry about things you can’t control; it’s extra stress on your heart, which can cause even more problems. Therefore, before we have another tornado watch, I am going to plan for a different type of tornado preparedness: cognitive reframing. According to About.com, this is one of the techniques used to help people who have a fear of tornadoes or severe storms developing into tornadoes. Cognitive reframing is as simple as learning to stop negative thoughts and replacing them with more positive ones. This is something I know I should do all the time, not just during tornado season. However, since the chance of seeing a tornado is relatively low (I’ve been close to tornado paths, but haven’t been in one), this spring seems like a good time to start practicing this technique.

So next time there is a tornado watch, I’ll try to watch my stress levels more than the radar.

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