I've noticed in myself that if something small and ultimately meaningless has gone wrong--I can't find the file I left on top of my desk, my daughter failed to do what I asked her to do before going to a friend's house--I can easily get rattled. But if someone calls to inform me of a serious difficulty--someone has been in an accident, or a child is in trouble--I notice a profound stillness come over me as I focus on the problem. In the former case, my temptation to become frantic does not attract solutions, but rather hinders them. There is nothing in my personal energy that invites help from others, nor do I have the clarity to think through what I need to do next.