I started to silently counting to myself, “5- 4- 3-...” and as I counted, I could
feel the fear lowering inside by body. Counting yanked me out of my head and
planted me in the present moment. It switched gears from worry to focus. I was not
going to let my brain rob me of this experience with my daughter. I was not going
to allow the habit of worrying to derail me from being in the present and taking a
mental photograph.
Then I asked myself two simple questions: “What am I grateful for in this moment?
What do I want to remember?” When you ask that simple question, you impact your
brain at a biological level. In order to respond you have to take stock of your life,
relationships, and work and search for an answer in the moment.
It forces you to focus on the positive aspects of your life. As soon as you think
about what you are grateful for, you’ll start feeling grateful instead of worried. The
answer to the question was clear to me. I was grateful to have such an incredible
young woman as my daughter. And after three hours of drama, I was also grateful
she found a dress.
Katie is also using the Rule to reflect on what she is grateful for and to control
her worries: