Several weeks ago, I had an overhead patient lift system installed in my home. The company that provided it gave my son (attendant) and I a one hour training on hooking up the sling and using the lift. The vendor did an excellent job, and I became comfortable using it with the trainer at the controls.
A few days later, we decided it was time to try it out. There was only one problem; we failed to remember exactly which loops hooked where. We took a guess and of course, our guess was wrong. I was lifted out of my wheelchair, and was sprawled out like an unfolded lawn chair! When they lowered me onto the bed, I became forced to a lying down position, and we ended up unhooking the sling and forgetting about the whole process. Pardon the wording, but the episode pissed everyone off! That day, I was a bit despondent and imagined the worst case scenario; we installed a very expensive system and it doesn't work. I spent the entire day in that negative mind-set.
It's funny how a night's sleep can change your outlook. The next day, I remembered the words of Dale Carnegie in How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.
How to Face Trouble:
1. Ask yourself "what's the worst that could possibly happen,
2. Prepare to accept the worst,
3. Try to improve on the worst.
That formula is so simple, yet it's magic when applied. I changed my mind-set and remembered that I would have a wheelchair seating expert at my house within a week. When he arrived, I asked him to assist us in hooking the sling, which he gladly did as part of his visit. Of course, the system worked as intended. This time, we marked the loops.
As I look back on the situation, I realized that I was bitten by Panic Button Syndrome. For me anyway, my first reaction is generally to carve out the worst case! But after reflection, I found out that my first reaction was entirely out of proportion with reality. I believe many of us have the same tendency.
So now, I try to remember Carnegie's words and let rational thinking into the process when things go wrong! Hopefully, I can get a handle on Panic Button Syndrome.