Candy-floss Makes You Sticky (Stuck)!
I love to think in pictures. And when I get myself in a bit of a pickle my candy-floss picture comes to mind.
Candy-floss is wonderful stuff. Do you remember watching them spin yours at the fun fair or seaside, money clutched in your hot little hand as the magic began with a teeny sprinkling of sugar which was then spun and spun.
In a matter of seconds something had come of nothing. There was a huge cloud of pink fluffiness where previously there had been only air. And you gratefully grabbed it and within minutes had sticky sugar all over your face! Bliss. But then the stickiness persisted long after the candy-floss (cotton candy) had disappeared.
Possibly your Mum, aunt or sister did the wonderfully hygienic ‘spit on a handkerchief’ routine and then rubbed mercilessly at your face. Or maybe you just stayed sticky, attracting flies and other odd bit of debris in the air.
Adult Candy Floss Syndrome
You may not have heard of Adult Candy-Floss Syndrome (I think I have invented it!) but I suspect you might get an attack now and again.
It’ll creep up on you those times you don’t feel entirely in control, when problems abound. We all suffer from it. We take something relatively small and spin it until it looms large and leaves us stuck. We need the metaphorical equivalent of some vigorous face rubbing to help us get a sense of perspective and see where we can take back some control.
But first we have to acknowledge what we’ve done. Next time you begin to feel overwhelmed with an issue, bring the candy floss image to mind. Ask yourself, is this a real and tangible problem? if so, this post may help. If not, start spitting on that hankie!
Photo Credit: Vera Reis
Beware Candy Floss!
Candy Floss! A huge cloud of sticky nothingness made out of one small spoon of sugar. And the person in the picture can’t actually see where they are going because of that one spoonful of sugar!
The Candy Floss Syndrome
I was recently coaching someone who had what was to her a huge problem. Together we began to look at the problem in detail; it was genuinely causing my client concern and some pain.
As we went back to the roots of the issue it became apparent to both of us that this problem had grown out of all proportion. My client had not had an opportunity to reflect on what was going on for her and the size of her dilemma had grown- in direct proportion to the amount of time she had spent thinking about it!
She had over-thought it, (or spun it) without testing out any of her thoughts or hypotheses.
A Spoonful of Sugar
A small spoonful of sugar had been dropped in and it had spun and spun in her head until it had become something huge and insurmountable. Yet closer examination revealed that the candy floss syndrome (CFS) was at work. The concerns were not truly substantial (although they felt it at the time) and a quick bite into them soon deflated the cloud!
I don’t want to go too far with this analogy but it’s a useful idea to use sometimes. We all do it from time to time. We get a thought stuck in our head which gathers size at speed as we spin and spin it, and before we know it we have ourselves a huge sticky problem!
Take a few moments to bite into it, really look at the issue and then see if it is still as big! Consider it from all points of view. It may just turn out to be an acute case of candy floss syndrome!
What helps you keep a sense of perspective?
