MicroBehaviorsLEARN
The country’s most famous actor was nearly crushed by a train. The Dangerous Sports Club introduces the world to a new extreme sport. And the most awkward interview on record. All of these teach us about stress and fear. They’ll also reveal the secret to managing them in everyday life.
ASK
Consider those situations we considered earlier, the ones that bring the most fear. For me, it’s bedtime with the kids. They’re all young, and that means my wife and I have to be synchronized like a Nascar pit crew. Bathe these two. Switch! Rotate to the room for pajamas. Hey honey where’s that comb! The wheels are coming off! I’ve learned that on the days I write in my journal about my family, those moments feel far less overwhelming.
It’s important to take an assessment because you can forecast a behavior before these situations before they arise. And it provides guidance for today’s MicroBehavior. Are you ready? Here it is:
DO
When you know you’ve got a stressful event ahead, take a few minutes to write 3 value affirmations beforehand.
These value affirmations can answer who you love and why. They define your constant worth in this world, especially when that moment may tempt you to feel worthless. They identify what provides long-term purpose and fulfillment. Your family? Adventure? Learning? Service any of these can be a cornerstone value for you and writing these out will help remove distractions and quite literally create your understanding. who you are at your best.
SOURCES
The Century Magazine, April 1909, pp. 919-920. This is the mostly used as sources for the alleged story between Booth and Robert Lincoln. The story has become exaggerated and sensationalized. I have tried to incorporate both of the actor’s primary account.
- “He [Booth] had started for Philadelphia from New York, and while he was standing on the platform of a car, still in the Pennsylvania railroad station at Jersey City, and just as the train was about to move, a young lad, going from one car to another, stumbled, and would have fallen between them, had not Edwin caught him by the collar of the coat and landed him in safety by his side. The boy, whom Edwin had never seen before, evidently recognized him, and holding out his hand said to him ‘That was a narrow escape, Mr. Booth’ and thanked him warmly. Two weeks later, Edwin received a letter from General Adam Badreau in which the latter mentioned that Robert Lincoln told him that it was his life that had thus been saved.”
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- “The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.
Titone, Nora. My Thoughts Be Bloody: The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth That Led to an American Tragedy (p. 377). Free Press. Kindle Edition.
blauer. 2019. “The Actor and the Assassin: Edwin and John Wilkes Booth.” Folger Shakespeare Library. February 5, 2019. https://www.folger.edu/shakespeare-unlimited/edwin-john-wilkes-booth.
Dangerous Rites: Vine Bungee Jumping | National Geographic. 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A88fFm9dbVQ.
Kearney, Hugh F. 1984. “Revolution in Time: Clocks and the Making of the Modern World. David S. Landes.” The Journal of Modern History. https://doi.org/10.1086/242745.
“Reflecting on Personal Values Offers Protection from Effects of Stress, UCLA Psychologists Report.” 2005. EurekAlert! November 4, 2005. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-11/uoc–rop110405.php.
“The Brain That Changes Itself.” 2009. PsycEXTRA Dataset. https://doi.org/10.1037/e671382011-001.
The Dangerous Sports Club Part 1 of 2. 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D-6cmc17Wk.
“‘They Waited to See What Would Happen to Me’: Man Who Did World’s First Bungee Jump Recalls the Moment He Made History.” n.d. ITV News. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.itv.com/news/2019-04-01/they-waited-to-see-what-would-happen-to-me-man-who-did-worlds-first-bungee-jump-recalls-the-moment-it-happened/.
“Understand the Facts | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA.” n.d. Accessed June 24, 2020. https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety.
Edwin Booth letter to Miss Emma F. Cary, New York, July 31, 1865
Edwin Booth letter to Richard Cary, 1865 -Letter of Edwin Booth to Col. Adam Badeau. Written in Boston, Sunday, April i6 (1865)