Adaptive Overreaction

Arianna's post considered the asset of overreaction as a result of poorly calculated risk.  If my perception of a risk is exaggerated beyond the actual reality of the threat, then my response may evoke a beneficial response.  This is in contrast to perceiving a risk and judging it to be relatively low, responding to that level of risk, and then having a response that is insufficient or ineffective.

At first I was thinking that overreaction does not actually exist.  People are just reacting according to their perceptions.  Some people may just a risk as low, while others judge that same threat as a high risk situation.  Therefore, the second individual may appear to be overreacting, when in reality, they are just reacting in accordance to their perception.  This may be true.  Or, maybe people learn overreaction as an adaptive behavior.

I tend to have a heightened response to perceived threats.  Some may consider this overreaction.  For example, when I calculate how many tasks I am responsible for in a week and weight that with the amount of finite time that I have, a common conclusion that I come to is: I should definitely panic.  This panic calls me to full alert, I make lists, I create plans, I start implementing those plans.  I cut out what is actually not necessary to do this week, or some things get cancelled and I get bonus time that I didn't account for.  And, inevitably, I get through the week.

It would be a great disappointment if I could not work him into another SE discussion.  Andy tends to have a very dampened response to perceived threats.  Or maybe, he does not perceive anything to be that threatening.  Because we live in the exact same house, it seems unreasonable that we would come to such divergent conclusions.  He has many demands and responsibilities and the same finite amount of time that I do, but the result is quite literally never panic.  In fact, the result might be that the Master's Tournament is a logical task to add to the list of responsibilities.

After 13 years of marriage to Andy, I believe what I may be experiencing is adaptive overreaction.  If part of my process in making sense of a mismatch between demands and time is delegating responsibilities to Andy, then I must try to evoke reaction within him that calls him to action, moves him away from watching Tiger revive a once-though dead career, and toward landscape beautification in preparation for hosting Easter celebrations.  In overreacting, I create a reaction that benefits my steps toward self regulation.  Relative to his natural inclination, reacting at all is likely an adaptive overreaction.  At any rate, the landscape looks lovely.