are you a worrier?
Do you ever worry and start feeling anxiety because you are afraid that something bad might happen? Or are you concerned and stressing out about something that is going on in your life right now? Something that you do not have control over. What if, in the end, the results are not favorable; in fact, what if they were not good at all? Some of us worry about bad things happening because we have experienced terrible tragedy in our past or experienced a harmful incident or relationship. We know how awful and painful it was, so we worry about something similar happening again. You work yourself up into a type of agony. How can you move past being in a state of worry and stress?
First, I want you to understand that worry and stress, especially over a period of time, physically does damage to our body. A 2018 study by Harvard Medical shows not only possible links between autoimmune disease and stress but that treating stress may actually reduce the onset of illness. Personally, going through stressful or high anxiety times is always followed by illness that keeps me down for months.
“To experience peace does not mean that your life is always blissful. It means that you are capable of tapping into a blissful state of mind amidst the normal chaos of a hectic life.”
―Jill Botte Taylor
stress starts with a thought
The question becomes, “how do we treat stress and anxiety”? Stress always starts with a thought. We have programmed our self, over the years, to think a certain way. The first step in changing how you think, is to understand your thought patterns and recognize a possible current way of thinking that sets you up for unfavorable outcomes. When you think of yourself experiencing these unfavorable outcomes, you see yourself as hopeless, experiencing great loss or opportunity and losing sight of your goals and future plans for success. You see yourself in a place with no other options, defeated and nowhere to go.
If you are going through a stressful time regarding something specific, you can change your perspective on the whole matter. Think of yourself actually experiencing the best outcome. Do some meditations and in your mind, feel the victory. Picture yourself experiencing the worst outcome. See yourself as a victorious, inspirational, leader going straight to the next natural step to overcoming the experience. You may have a great loss, but you will survive, and you will be amazing. See yourself as having great hope and resilience in your heart and as you move through your obstacles, you emerge with victory inspiring and encouraging people along your journey.
how do you think of yourself?
Do you think of yourself as a victim – weak and frail; unable to be victorious? That is a thought you choose to think. The fact is that you have greatness inside you; everyone does. You actually can break through barriers and become inspirationally successful. It is just untrue that some people are born to be successful or had all the right lucky breaks. Read about Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Zig Ziglar, Walt Disney, J.K. Rowling among many others, who have had great failures and obstacle to fight through. Michael Jordan once said, “I have failed over and over and over in my life. And that is why I succeed”.
When you choose not to let worry run your life, you are choosing to take control and continuously think about how you are going to make your life happy and successful. Life is going to throw you curve balls. That is what happens in life. And it happens over and over again. Rather than thinking of what a poor victim you are, plan on overcoming obstacles. That’s right, life is just one big pin ball game. The point is, you can still win the game. You can practice over and over again until you win big. The key is to expect life to give you hardships and think about how you are going to use your newfound tenacity and drive to work through them. Hardships are life’s way of making us stronger or teaching us a life lesson which we use in the next step of working through life.
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”
―William James
if you take responsibility...
Does this sound like a lot of work? You bet it is, but the rewards are so worth it. There are people who do the minimum during their day waiting for their big lucky break. Many people go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch TV and go to bed. That’s it. Then there are those that stop off at the store on their way home from work and buy their lottery ticket before going home. Statistics show that winning the lottery not only DOES NOT bring you happiness, it usually brings more pain and bankruptcy than before winning the lottery. People who do not take responsibility for their life, usually blame other people for their unhappiness and their financial instability. Is this you?
The key to staying in a positive, motivated, and can-do attitude is to surround yourself with people who have these qualities. Listen to uplifting Youtube videos, and read inspiring books. Meditate while believing you are special and achieve whatever you set your mind to. Realize that success is earned. In this world of instant gratification, it is easy to give up too quickly. I recently saw the trailer for the movie, Soul Surfer, where Bethany Hamilton said, “I don’t need easy; I just need possible”. This is the surfer who lost her arm to a shark bite. I love this saying. It resonates with me so thoroughly.
Are you a worrier? Does anxiety sneak up and overtake you during stressful times? Inside you lies the ability to change how this process plays out. Trust yourself. You got this.
Many years my friend, many years....
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