“Some days all I want to be is a missing person.” - shouted the bumper sticker on the car in front to me. Have I ever felt like the slogan on the bumper sticker; you bet I have. Some days the feelings of being overwhelmed from the stuff life throws at you just makes me want to become a missing person.

Soon after I had that delicious interlude with escaping, the words of the poet David Whyte grabbed my attention, “If you stop thinking about the world, the world stops thinking about you.” I then wanted to blow my horn and get the drivers attention and yell, “The world needs you – don’t run away!”

Soon the light changed and both of us continued on our day’s journey. My mind kept reflecting on the bumper sticker and David’s words. I couldn’t help appreciate the importance of understanding emotions and how powerful they are in determining how we approach life. Feelings of being overwhelmed and scared can kick off a cycle of reactions that could result in running away – literally and figuratively. Or we could use a simple but profound process of validating how we are feeling, exploring the why(s) that helped generate the feeling and begin to assess the consequences of our reaction. Many times, this in itself can soothe that desire to run and help us formulate a response that doesn’t risk the world forgetting about me. The world needs the best of all of us.