No Tornado Watches, No Tornado Warnings, Almost No Worries

While watching the red and yellow clumps slowly move on the radar, I thought I had a chance to make it home safely before the severe storms hit.

I quickly turned off the computer, grabbed my purse, and headed out of the office. Once outside, I was relieved to see that it wasn’t raining and the sky had lightened up a bit. “I’m leaving just in time,” I thought.

As I got closer to home, the darker it got. And then I saw it.

Straight ahead of me was one of the darkest clouds I had ever seen. And it looked just like a tornado.

I called my dad to ask him if he knew if we were under a tornado watch. “No, no,” he said. “There’s not a tornado watch. Hot and cold air have to meet, and we don’t have enough cold air coming through.”

“But there’s this cloud in front of me! It really looks like a tornado!” I protested.

My dad laughed at my useless worrying. “It’s not a tornado.”

So I dismissed the safety action plan that was forming in my head and ventured on to my home. About that time, a fellow worrywart called and asked me if I was driving. “I was just wondering,” she said, “because I see something that looks like a tornado near you.”

Action plan back on.

“I thought it looked like one, too! My dad says we’re not under a tornado watch, though,” I said, trying to stay calm.

Just then, a burst of wind violently shook my car, and I gripped the steering wheel. Rain began to fall, and lightening danced across the sky. I started to turn into a store parking lot, but I was so close to home and decided to stay on course.

I drove a little ways and then stopped at a red light. The trees began to sway with fury, and rain pounded my car. “If this light would just turn green now, I’d be able to make it home!” I yelled.

The light turned green and moments later as I was turning into my driveway, the wind picked up speed and blew sheets and sheets of rain. I had just made it.

When I was safely inside, I texted one of my friends, telling her of my ordeal. “At least there are no tornadoes,” she said.

Yes, there were no tornadoes (thank goodness!!). Unfortunately, my imagination ran away with me again and pictured the dark cloud turning into a real life tornado. I can’t seem to stop worrying about severe weather - especially when I’m driving in the middle of it. But it can be difficult to start conjuring up positive thoughts when the wind is shaking your car violently and the sky looks like it is going to fall on you.

Speaking of tornadoes, I recently visited Universal Studios and did the “Twister” ride. Actually, it’s more of a show than a ride. On a soundstage, they show how it was possible to make the scenes from “Twister” look so real. (On a side note, is it ironic that one of my favorite movies actually is “Twister”? I won’t watch it during tornado season, though.) Anyway, one of my friends had seen the “Twister” attraction before and joked that it may be therapeutic for me. After this most recent incident, I’m guessing that it was not therapeutic and I still need to find ways to stay calm during severe weather. Any ideas?

Just My Imagination?

You would think that having an active imagination would benefit a writer such as myself. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always benefit me. In fact, it sometimes hurts me.

When something goes wrong (or at least seems like it could go wrong), my mind goes into overdrive with so many questions. What if this happens? What if that happens? What if that person really meant this? What if this person really meant that? What is this person really thinking of me now? How will this affect my future?

Usually I come up with scenarios that you would find in Academy Award-winning films or disaster movies - depending on the situation, of course. For example, I recently hit my head on a shelf as I was standing up. The moment it happened, I began worrying that something was wrong. What if there was swelling underneath the skin? What if hitting my head had caused a concussion? What if the symptoms were delayed and then I didn’t find out until it was too late that something was wrong? What if...Okay. You get the idea.

The power of suggestion can cause much stress for worriers. Hearing just one word or feeling just one ache can create a string of possibilities and cause one’s imagination to run away with itself. This recently happened to a friend of mine. Her leg had been hurting for a while, and she began to worry about what it could be. As she was talking to me about it, her other leg began to hurt and then seconds later ceased hurting.

Obviously, the mind is very powerful and can trick you into thinking that something is wrong. I can be totally fine and not worrying about anything for most of the day, but then I’ll hear a disturbing news story or someone will ask me if I knew that, say, you can get staph infects in workout rooms. Hearing such news or random facts - that’s when my imagination begins to conjure up scary scenarios and I begin to worry.

A statue in William Shakespeare's hometown.

What’s the solution then? Turn off the TV and Internet and sit around in denial? No, denial’s probably not very healthy either. If a worrywart’s mind can be easily persuaded that there is something to worry about, maybe what I need to do is distract my mind before it lets my imagination run away from me. The next time something makes me worry, I should put on a romantic comedy or become immersed in a good book. If I’m out and about and not able to do these things, maybe I could carry a list of things that I’ve worried about but never happened.

Until then, here’s a quote by William Shakespeare that I find somewhat comforting: “Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.”