Can you eliminate stress in your life? Are you willing to quit your job or your business, get rid of your family, drop out of school, give up your house and all of the responsibilities that come with it? And even if your answer is yes to any of the above questions, what about the unexpected? Do you have a way to ensure that for the rest of your life, you know exactly what's going to happen and when it's going to happen? Probably not.
So the key to living a successful, happy, and stress free life isn't to eliminate the external factors that cause stress, but to change the way you respond to these external factors.
You see, what a lot of people don't understand is that stress is a choice.
When something unexpected happens that we deem to be "negative," we react with negative emotions and feelings.
However, consider that it is your reactive to the situation that causes the pain and the stress rather than the situation itself.
Recently, I had two clients who were laid off from their jobs.
One client constantly complained about being laid off.
Prior to being laid off, this client, client #1 constantly complained about not liking her job.
But now, she complained about not having a job.
She expressed worries about money, paying the bills, being able to survive.
Now, I'm not suggesting that these concerns are not valid, but worrying and stressing about them did not improve this client's situation.
Another client, in the same situation, was ecstatic.
Although she admits to being apprehensive about her next steps, she realized she did not really enjoy her job and felt that being laid off gave her the perfect opportunity to explore her interest and figure out what she really wanted to do.
She planned to travel and even thought about going back to school.
This client just generally had a positive attitude about the situation.
Client #2 positive attitude seemed to enable her to find solutions and opportunities in the situation.
She soon discovered she wanted to start her own business, and is now thriving in her industry.
Client #1 stayed stuck in thoughts of fear and did not seem quite able to overcome them.
She struggled quite a bit and eventually found a job paying about the same amount, doing the same type of work.
When we experience excessive stress we enter into a what is called a "fight or flight" response.
In fight or flight, certain chemicals and hormones are released into our body, causing us to use the part of our brain primarily focused on survival.
When in this state of awareness, we do not have access to the part of the brain that is responsible for higher thinking such as creativity.
Whenever I'm experiencing something that would usually trigger a stress reaction, I repeat to myself, "Out of this situation, only good will come.
" I repeat this affirmation over and over and over again.
It allows me to relax, and when I'm relaxed, I am able to have a more open perspective about the situation, and allow a creative solutions to flow.
Think about this the next time you're stressed.
Fully feel all of the feelings associated with the stress, and then try to focus on the opportunities present.
Allow yourself to be driven by more creative thought rather than survival thoughts.