My readers have probably discovered by now I get a lot of writing material from listening to the radio. Radio is for the morning; earbuds (just music) is for running. Bobby Bones and his crew were speaking to a guest about her psychic abilities and what that meant for Bobby. I don’t entirely know his buy-in, but it was fun to listen to. So this prompted my own questions:

Psychic vs. Self Fulfilling Prophecy – As I’ve never been to a psychic or had any type of reading done, I don’t know the ins and outs of this process. However, suffice to say, a stranger with ability to see/hear/forecast your future tells you in the most generalized way possible what might happen. In my opinion, this is much like allowing a horoscope to dictate your entire day. Do you. My question is how many people create a self fulfilling prophecy by leaning on every word of a psychic? In case you’re unfamiliar, self fulfilling prophecy is when one expects something to happen and then inadvertently engineers it to happen (that’s the minimalist version, look it up yourself for the entirety). It’s actually really interesting to me because there is a psychological phenomenon property to it. Have you ever heard of women who “believe themselves pregnant”? It’s true. Our bodies and minds can do miraculous things. Anyway, I propose there must exist a connection between psychic conclusions and self fulfilling prophecy in the way we are told something could/should/might happen then it comes true because we made it come true. You can have your hypothesis and I’ll have mine.
Stability Before Resiliency – during our recent CSAF visit, Gen Brown visited with the Chaplains. One mentioned something to the effect of “we must focus on stability before resiliency”. Granted, I realize resiliency has become another buzzword for the military and probably for the public sector, as well; however, it is something I’m passionate about. As a Resiliency Trainer – and this time next month I’ll be traveling to receive certification as a Master Resiliency Trainer (fancy, right?) – I believe in muscle memory, most notably within the confines of psychological behavior. Though I’m sure we each have ideas on how soft the military is or how it “wasn’t like this when we were in”…nonetheless, times have changed and we must change with them. Teaching resiliency or at least bringing it up serves a higher purpose than a check mark on a to-do list. Off my tangent now. My belief is the Chaplain was referring to ensuring stability within an Airman’s life before incorporating resiliency. I don’t think he meant catering to what one wants to hear but focusing on their mental and occupational stability prior to expecting them to understand how to self-regulate and prioritize resiliency. I intend to study and use this idea during next month’s training as the possibilities and outcomes of such is notable.
I also need to stop writing like I get a grade for how many big yet theoretical words I use. Tomorrow. I’ll start tomorrow.
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I ask you –
Have you ever been to a psychic? What was the outcome?
Do you agree with stability before resiliency?
Somehow October is flying by. Tell me something awesome you have going on!
(The post What’s Another Word for Concepts? first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)
© 2022 Running on Fumes
My one ex-girlfriend went to a low-profile psychic–one that doesn’t seek the limelight. She walks in, and the psychic says immediately, “Your brother is here. He’s with an older man, who I’m assuming is his grandfather.” Her younger brother died at age 2, and the boy she saw was a teenager.
The stability vs resiliency argument reminds me of what I say–control what you can, and manage what you can’t.
I’ve been having a crappy September and October, so the only fun news is my son has scored 2 nice goals in his dekhockey league this fall. Usually the older kids and the ones that play ice hockey score the goals, so for him to contribute is pretty neat.
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Wow! Your psychic story is fascinating!
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I’m not sure I understand what you mean about focusing on stability before resiliency. Please explain.
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It’s hard to teach resiliency to someone who is unstable because they’re already in the thick of stressors. This is why it’s important to teach resiliency during all stages and all seasons of life.
In my mind, I equate it to the medical field. Surgeons can’t operate on an unstable patient, they prefer the patient be stable before introducing a stressor like surgery.
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OK. Now I understand what you’re saying. It reminds me of backpacking with the Girl Scout troop I lead a couple of summers ago. One girl was really struggling with her heavy pack and broke down in tears at one point on the trail in Yosemite. Only afterwards was she able to look back and say, yes, I’m glad I did that. I’m stronger than I thought I was. In the heat of the moment all she wanted to do was get off that trail, take her pack off, get some food, and cool down.
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Yes, exactly! We can’t help someone be resilient or rely on their skills in the heat of the moment if they have no tools to pull out.
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