The Joy in Business

27Abduction

• Q. Have you ever had your thoughts abducted?

  A. Here’s how to get them back.

Some people’s thoughts are abducted in the middle of the night, worrying about their workload for the next day. Some are abducted when things go wrong. Conditioning teaches us to think and feel certain things, due to circumstance either real or perceived. Have you ever had a visceral reaction to something that happened to you? You wanted to stay composed, but you had this sudden and pervasive feeling of dread, anxiety, or stress?

While I was on a run I saw an old white van slowing down. To most it would seem as if it was going to turn around or someone was going to ask for directions, but to me it caused an instant visceral reaction. It triggered a thought of when I was 11 years old and nearly abducted by a man in an old white van. Instantly, my thoughts turned to where to run if I needed to. As it turned out, the van simply drove away.

As I continued my run, I ran past a man who said, “The planes, the planes!” I stopped and asked, “The planes?”

He said, “There are too many planes flying above our town!” I was thinking what a beautiful day it was for a run, and he was fixated on the planes.

You never really know how someone is feeling or thinking, or what value the person places on what you do or say. It’s hard to predict. You also never really know what you or others will think, feel, and do when interacting, especially when something startling, problematic, or unexpected happens.