If you were feeling good about yourself, how would you view this situation?

Blood simple is when criminals lose control of full rationality at the moment of committing the crime and inevitably leave incriminating clues behind.

As a result, the consequences of their acts quickly swirl out of control, and everything goes to hell.

Coens made their debut movie about this phenomenon in the eighties. It makes for a compelling plot line.

But what’s interesting about the film is, you don’t have to be a criminal to appreciate it. Any of us can become undone by our own futile plans. Blood simple means that our rational brain becomes impotent to talk our emotional brain out of its own reality.

That damn thing doesn’t even give our rationality a chance to vote. And all of those unmanaged feelings hijack the entire situation while we lose our minds.

Kind of like grocery shopping when you haven’t eaten in three days.

Can you remember the last time you went blood simple?

If you’re someone who struggles with anxiety, depression, mania or panic, it has probably happened to you a number of times. Maybe once this week.

Thinking back to my own lowest, saddest, loneliest periods, the pattern was always the same. Anytime my stress level spiked, my brain would start viewing everything that happen to me in an alarming way.

Low website traffic? Your business is going downhill.

Upset client? You are incompetent at your job.

Conflict in your marriage? She is going to leave your ass.

Nobody to hang out with? You have no friends and will be alone forever.

All of this gave me stomach problems and the occasional anxiety attack. Things like degree, nuance, intention, context, and all those other great tenets of rational thinking, kiss them goodbye.

Here’s what would have been good to know at the time. Think of it as a message to my younger, less compassionate self.

Scott, your brain is making you see things in a negative, unreal way. This is not who you are. This is not how the world really is, but it is how it feels for you, right now. If your mind is urging you towards extreme thinking or acting out in a harmful way towards yourself or others, you can be absolutely certain of one thing. It is your anxiety talking and it is not the result of rational, reasonable, logical thinking.

Wouldn’t you have liked to know that last time you had a panic attack?

Next time it happens to you, take a deep breath and remind yourself that the danger is not real, and you have the tools to take control.

Be more positive than the negativity you’re facing. In fact, try asking the following question.

If you were feeling good about yourself right now, how would you view this situation?

It’s a powerful visualization technique. It’d a reminder to take action when your brain isn’t blood simple, when the potential for positive results is highest.

Otherwise you’re just grocery shopping when you’re hungry. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What are you thinking about so much that it’s driving you blood simple?