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Every once in a while you overhear a conversation that makes you think a little bit differently than you thought before and it happened to me last week in a local coffee shop. I was reading a book and enjoying a cup of dark roast when a couple of women sat down at the table next to me. I looked up and smile politely and went back to my book but I wasn’t long until I was mesmerized by their conversation.

Here sat two late twenty-something women with small children who went on and on about the dangers that lurked around every corner of their world and what they are doing to protect themselves and their children. They discussed the possibility of halfway houses coming to the neighborhood and the sex offenders that lived close by as well as one told the other how to get her carry permit so she could have the protection of carrying a gun at all times.

I finally had to get up and leave before I became infected by the raw fear I was hearing and what I kept repeating to myself for a couple of days was a phrase I learned as a kid; I have “nothing to fear but fear itself”, which came from Roosevelt during WWII  Since then I have been listening to those around me and I must say there is a lot of fearful people in America today. I guess some will never learn.

So I’m looking up a chiropractor in my neighborhood by entering in chiropractor 37216 and get several selections to choose from. While all of them seem to be pretty good I decided to visit one that looked to be more holistic than the others because it was located in a complex called Body and Balance in East Nashville, just a little ways down the road. Not knowing what to expect since this was my very first visit to a chiropractor, I was quite pleased with Dr. Olsen. I found out that he was a pre-med student when he hurt his back and found that chiropractic care helped him more than anything else he found and because of this personal experience, he decided to become a chiropractor.

I also found out that Dr. Olsen taught anatomy and had more experience than he looked in years. He made me very comfortable and after several weeks of working with him, I too am finding relief for my back pain. The only thing I wish that I had done differently was to go see Dr. Olsen quicker. My pain would have been alleviated sooner and my fear of chiropractic medicine tackled earlier.

I’m starting to feel sorry for Mr. Beck after talking to my college aged son on the phone this week. He asked me what I thought of this character (Mr. Beck) in regard to ethics (This happens to be on of his classes). My son questioned old Glenn’s intentions. He actually thinks Glenn is doing what he is doing for money! (Gasp!) I had to defend Glenn and point out that he is only making $23 million dollars this year from his shows and books and while that is a lot of money it is behind Rush and Mr. O’Reilly. Then he asked me the billion dollar question (he already makes millions); “Do you really think he believes the stuff he is saying?” I answered him with a question of my own; “What do you think he would do if he really believed it?” The phone was silent for about a minute when my son answered, “Exactly what he is doing.” “Uh-huh” was my response. “Wow!” he said, “now that IS scary”.

“So how does this fit into your ethics class”, I asked. My son went on to tell me they are studying ethics in the media and how he is having a hard time finding any outside of The Daily Show, which is a comedy show. My son is smart and thinks for himself and all I can think of is poor Glenn.

Here are three very quick and easy to remember tips to keep you calm and cool during your next interview.

Number one is consciously remembering to breathe. When we get nervous our muscles “tighten up” and that includes our diaphragm. If your diaphragm is tight we tend to breathe very shallow and almost stop breathing altogether. But when you consciously think about breathing and make yourself take a big breath followed by a few deliberate breaths you will feel yourself relaxing and able to think.

Number two is to really listen to the interviewer and concentrate on what he or she is saying and asking. Believe it or not, this allows you time to really think before you speak and the interviewer will be impressed that you didn’t interrupt or talk over them, which can be a symptom of being nervous.

Number three is to smile. There has been studies made and smiling helps keep blood pressure low and it is hard to be uptight when you carry a smile. Others respond positively to smiles and it creates an atmosphere where all parties can relax. That’s both good for you’re the interviewee as well as the interviewer.

Take these three easy things with you where ever you go for job interviews to make and give a great impression. You can also draw from these same tips ways to put others at ease as well as yourself in many types of stressful situations from work to home.

I’m the kind of guy that likes to read maps. I like to plan were I am going and know exactly which route I am taking to get there so the thought of this voice from nowhere telling me how to get to where I am going has never appealed to me. I have always gone to one of my many maps and figured out which way I want to go and then took off. However, on a recent trip, a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to borrow his GPS to just try it since I was going to a town I don’t frequent and going to some areas I have never been. After thinking about it I decided I would try it.

At first the lady in the box drove me a little bit crazy and I quickly realized it was because I was taking a route she could not have understood; going to the bank and the post office before actually leaving on the trip. The recalculating when you don’t go her way can be annoying but once I got to the town I was not familiar with, I was very impressed with the directions and the way you can see where you are in relation to where you are going. Using this GPS was a lot easier than having to go to a map. I will definitely consider purchasing a GPS the next time I travel to a place I don’t know.