HJNO Sep/Oct 2022

I am a recovering “typeA.”Have been for about 12 years. I don’t know if there is a chip for that, but there should be. Unwinding this “type A,” I have found, involves unlearning things you thought you should know, ways to behave, patterns you either grew into or developed, and letting go of people/thoughts/things that no longer serve you. I spent the first two decades of my working life reading and creating a small library of books on achieving success by being driven. On that rare occasion when I did look up, I secretly admired the relaxation of the “type B’s” around me – the way they can float through life, often with as much success and pure confidence, seemingly unaffected by things that would drive me “mad.” “Type B’s,” I find, have much more fun. The evolution to a “want-to-be type B” for me, began on a rare day off work. It was a verdant, spring Friday afternoon, azaleas in bloom, the smell of cut grass floating in a soft, caressing wind. The clouds and their shadows drifted, veiling and unveiling the sun to provide a tem- perature so perfect you wouldn’t touch the thermostat if God allowed you. I was on the practice range trying to chip golf balls – the perfect Friday afternoon – and I was wound tight, as usual. My kind, laid-back “type B”husband invitedme to join himon this beautiful excursion and I was talking to (perhaps I should say “at”) him about things I needed to get done at home and at work – probably complaining about some- thing that was “wrong”with the world, why traffic is so bad – my usual chatter, at that time. Between chips, I noticed he seemed completely content. He usually was, but that day it threwme off a bit. I observed, with a little envy I might add, that he was not affected by my musings – unlike others of my “typeA”condition, who when engaged, work with you to stoke the embers of discontentment into flames. This human was truly content, I noticed, and I wanted that peace. I admired that peace. I realized that despite all the religious training I had and all the books I had read, I had no idea how to achieve it. EDITOR’S DESK 8 SEP / OCT 2022  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   True to my nature back then, I probably interrupted his golf swing and asked, perhaps demanded (although with an unusually open heart), why he thought I was like “this” on this Friday afternoon, and he was like “that.” I wanted “that,” I said, probably honestly for the first time in my life. He paused, smiled, and said, “Maybe you think you need to stress to accomplish what you want. Maybe stressing is what makes you successful and happy. For me,”he said with a sage wisdom, “it is a Friday afternoon, my work is done, there is nothing for me to do right now but to appreciate this time.”Then he smiled, chipped his ball into the hole, looked me in the eyes and sweetly said, “Sometimes, I think you believe, if you are not uptight, the sun will not set, or rise – it does.” My life at that moment was somehow changed. Before that day, I had never been taught that you can set your mind on whatever thought you want. I believed that any thought I had was the one I had to deal with or solve. I have since heard it said that so many of us choose to continually watch horror movies in our heads, when we could be watching, say a romantic comedy. We humans make poor choices, sometimes, especially if we are unaware. But I encourage all the “typeA’s”who secretly want the ease of being a “type B” to keep searching and practicing – sometimes you will sur- prise yourself with the space you find when you release the grip – it is pleasant. Sometimes you will realize you are still in recovery – because you are still searching for ease instead of being. Hopefully you have some “type B’s” to guide you. To all you “type B’s” out there, you make the world a better place. Forgive us for our rantings, we know not what we do. But you prob- ably already knew that. Where To Set YourMind Dianne Marie Normand Hartley Chief Editor editor@healthcarejournalno.com