Hormesis tests and facing the Flinch really work. After the cold showers and breaking the mug (see Facing the Flinch), this morning I killed a cockroach. Not very Buddhist of me, but I did try to catch it first. Usually, the sight of the roach would have caused me to stifle a scream, I would have broken out in a sweat with a crazy beating heart, and then woken Ryan to take care of it (it is 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning). Often it would be gone by the time he got there. This morning was successfully different, though. Yay!
I saw the roach, quietly gasped, started down the morning cockroach panic path, and very quickly stopped. I said “hormesis” to myself, got a glass but couldn’t catch it, walked over for the fly swatter and decisively nailed it without screeching. I never kill them and I am never quiet. I even quickly cleaned the mess (it was pretty impressive due to my new Flinch superpowers) without flinching, my heart rate quickly returning to normal. Ryan will be amazed.
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