Becoming Fireproof

The stock solution you find for emotional problems is some version of dealing with the emotions once they come up. Breathing techniques are a popular example. And they work, hence the popularity. But they work in the same way a fire department works. If your house is on fire you should probably call them. It would be stupid not to. But it’s also a little stupid that your house caught fire in the first place.

The next level up is where you start to figure out what causes the fires. The people or situations that trigger you, the circumstances in which you’re likely to break down. You make changes to your plans to try and work around them so you can avoid a fire. It’s better than waiting around for a fire to start with 911 on speed dial, but you can’t avoid a fire forever. Eventually something will happen that you can’t prevent.

The only true solution is becoming fireproof. The beauty of being fireproof is now you don’t have to worry about the things you didn’t see coming. The freak accident, the one in a million lightning strike… they don’t matter anymore. You didn’t have to solve for each possibility because you eliminated the very possibility of having a problem.