My mother was a super example of good ol' Yankee self-reliance, so integrity was instilled in me throughout childhood. 

The incident which prompted me to take charge of my own emotions happened when I was about 16. My friend and I got ourselves to the movie theater to see "The Sting". It was sold out, but she said another movie, "The Exorcist", was supposed to be good. So we went, and I was completely overwhelmed by the horror. For weeks I was having daytime "flashbacks" of the imagery and the accompanying floods of emotions and trembling, and unable to get to sleep because of them. Finally, I began to interrupt the flashbacks by deliberating choosing OTHER thought content, thus gradually circumventing the cascade of image-emotions-physical reactions. I took charge. Ever since, I have been in charge and while I enjoy positive emotions to the fullest extent, I have confronted negative events and emotions with this an analytical and problem-solving approach. 

Stacey