Worrying is like paying a debt you don’t owe.
– Mark Twain
How to Stress Less
Hello Beautiful,
All of our lives are a mix of the delightful and the challenging. We are always working to shift the balance in favor of the delightful!
Many of our challenges can be lessened (and prevented) by living with attention to detail, good communication, responsible and preventative action, and not letting the speed of life persuade us to turn a blind eye to what our intuition is signaling we should take action on.
But, even with the most skillful living, we cannot avoid all challenges, illness, injury, and loss.
These difficulties are part of all of our lives from start to finish. The question remains, how do we lessen the suffering, speed the recovery, and minimize the pain? I want to offer some insights that aim to do just that for you. Here we go!
Slow Down
Multi-tasking and over scheduling make it difficult to see what is happening and respond early.
When we are living with too much on our plate, we simply don’t have the bandwidth to notice or take action on things when they are small….and so problems grow in size and implication until we finally make space to address them.
Addressing bumps early, lets us minimize the size and scope of a problem by arresting it’s advancement.
Aim to create enough attention and available energy to address things that come up early to reduce the drama in your life
Have Courage
Addressing problems takes courage. Whether it’s a difficult conversation, knowing the exact numbers of your assets and liabilities, or getting a comprehensive blood panel—we can be tempted to delay the discomfort of walking into something that may deliver bad news or tension.
As uncomfortable as facing bad news in any area is, when we summon the courage to face the truth, we are half way to a resolution.
Take Daily Action
Hiding from the problem is also hiding from the possible solutions.
Regularly initiate check-ins for all key areas of your life (health, finance, relationships, and the care of top assets). Resolve to take some action towards the resolution of problems daily. Pick the biggest elephant in the room and commit to befriending it each day.
Daily action (of any size) will gradually reduce the problem and help you regain your footing in that area.
Only Carry What is Yours
For those with empathy and soft hearts, the feelings of others can become an unhealthy weight on your soul. It is not your responsibility to make sure no one is ever disappointed. It is not your responsibility to fix all of others problems —and rarely can you fix what you didn’t break.
Be kind. Be considerate. Be thoughtful. Be generous. Be supportive.
But, know that everyone has their own battles to fight. We must learn to differentiate between our hopes for others and our ability to override their own learning process.
The learning curve for all of us can be rough. But, just like helping a butterfly out of its chrysalis robs it of developing the strength needed to survive, we must respect others ability to create their own resolutions.
If the problem can be solved, why worry? If the problem cannot be solved, why worry?
-Santideva
Stress and worry suck the life out of our being. We cannot afford to throw away our energy by not respecting the natural order of cause and effect, sowing and reaping.
Each moment, we are invited to become more and more skilled at taking responsibility for our lives, while encouraging others to do so as well.
And… sometimes we get the joy of being a God-send to another Soul in travail! Every day we can set a good example and cheer them on in running their own race.
Cheering you on,
Rachel
ps. If you would like to work with me to help you reach your goals, get more information here: Click here for details