The unwise man is awake all night, worries over and again. When morning rises, he is restless still, his burden as before

---

Each Thursday I select a Viking quote, sometimes randomly but ofttimes based upon relevance or meaning to my life at that point in time. Despite these phrases being over a thousand years old I believe most can still offer value in modern society and I find it interesting to ponder, weigh and measure them. _{original im src}

---

This week's Viking quote

The unwise man is awake all night, worries over and again. When morning rises, he is restless still, his burden as before - The Havamal

I wrote yesterday about some (rocky) paths I'm walking currently, more for myself than for any need to tell anyone; just a reminder to stay the course and maintain forward motion no matter what may come, I guess. The reality of the situation is that I have little choice but to do so as capitulation is not my style; it doesn't feel right. I fight. Hard. That's just me.

As my thoughts hit the page they began to take shape in my mind, became more ordered, and the point of the exercise was exactly that; I needed to gain clarity and perspective. I have found, through gaining arm's length from my thoughts, feelings and emotions, (usually by writing, sometimes by speaking with trusted others), I see them more clearly.

I am more readily able to evaluate from a logical and emotionless place which has usually delivered the ability to move difficult situations forward in a more strategic and calculated way, rather than react emotionally. I am, after all, a passionate man and that comes through often which means I can react and act in an impassioned manner when logic and strategy would be preferable. Shooting off the hip is sometimes required for sure, but proceeding in a more politic manner with planned and deliberate actions is, in my opinion, a more advantageous manner in which to operate. So I wrote some words and began to look upon my scenarios from a different vantage point, so to speak.

Worry, fret, agonise, panic, brood, stress...No matter how one puts it I believe we've all felt the emotion in some form at one time or another. It's human. I have and I'll not pretend otherwise.

I've been in difficult situations when those feelings have crept inside my head or fallen like a ton of bricks upon my shoulders, leaving me almost immobile physically and emotionally which, as you may imagine, removed the ability for logical thought and impeded my ability to walk the path forward to resolution. I hate that feeling so work hard to avoid it. That means thinking differently, or maybe I should say, ensuring I have thoughts that create the attitudes that inspire the right actions. I'm not a specialist at doing so, just a knucklehead who does his best...however I've achieved solid results in this way and will again.

I believe there's good stress (note I didn't say worry here). For example, applying a little pressure (good-stress) upon oneself to meet a work-project deadline, if accompanied by a plan, strategy and the right actions can help facilitate and expedite the process...Staying up all night worrying about that project and filling one's mind with negative thoughts and emotions about the deadline, parameters, or one's own ability to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion will not help facilitate the process. Rather, it will undermine it.

Having a plan, ensuring one has the right emotional, mental and physical skills to deal with situations that arise be it professional, relationship, social or personal, will help ensure that any stress is productive, controlled, and channelled towards obtaining the desired result; A little nudge of motivation I suppose. I find it so anyway, maybe others do not.

I've worked hard to develop a strong mission-focused ethos. I'm happy to say I've become (reasonably) adept at doing so. I've regressed at times but in the main I have managed to keep my stressometer within acceptable and productive limits. Together with a solutions-focused ethos and results-oriented mindset I've generally managed to navigate those rocky paths I've had to travel. Is it a fool proof strategy? No, for sure it is not...but do I achieve better results, more often, because of it? Yes.

Dwelling negatively upon the problem, allowing oneself to feel anxious, panicked and stressed won't carry one forward with much success; Yes, a result may come, but is it the optimal result? Maybe, but probably not and, in truth, it'll probably make the situation worse than it needs to be and bring one to be less effective in dealing with it.

Focusing on the possible solutions and evaluating the problem, steps to (possibly) resolve it, setting down a plan of action and taking action is a better use of one's energy than expending it in worry, anxiety and panic. That is a habit I created many years ago and whilst I still feel the negative emotions I'm more able to control them, to channel my energy towards more productive places and find that triumvirate of thought-attitude-action which brings more favourable results, more often.

---

That's it for this week, a thousand year-old Viking quote extolling the virtues of a solutions-oriented focus and control over one's own mindset.

In the comments below, please feel free to disagree with my interpretation and add your own if you like, tell a story around this quote or general topic or simply react to it and let me know what you think, how you see it, how it relates to you or someone you know.

Skol.