Where do you think most of your stress comes from? Most people would answer money, work, family or unforeseen occurrences such as death or job loss. What most people don’t respond with is that their thinking contributes to their stress level. Your mind plays a big role in how you see stressful situations.
Our perception or how we view the world is the part that we can change in a stressful world. Stressful situations are the part we cannot always control. But how we view and react to a situation can be something we can control.
Earlier today I was talking to a friend about a time in my life where I had to make a choice about my own well-being under severe stress. Several years ago I had a nicotine habit. I thought I wanted to quit, but never to the point where I was successful. A few weeks before my father passed away he asked me to quit smoking. He had been a heavy smoker and knew what a toll it had taken on his health. I remember the phone call that I made telling him that I had put down the cigarettes. A little over a month after I quit smoking my father had a massive brain bleed. I stayed by his side until he passed away nine days later. I fought every urge I had, every trick my mind was playing on me not to smoke. I just remembered the look in his eyes and knew at that moment I could lean on his strength and his words.
I stopped listening to the mind chatter.
I made a choice in how I perceived my stress and what I could control in my life. I couldn’t control my father’s death but I could control how I reacted to his passing. That was 4 1/2 years ago. But that story replays in my head to remind me that I have choices in life. I chose not to be a victim to my habit or circumstances.
Know that with every breath you take that your inner strength is unstoppable. You can choose to do what matters most every day.
For over 25 years in the health care profession, Lisa Birnesser has studied stress relief techniques and have helped hundreds of people reduce stress in their lives.Lisa specializes stress management coaching by helping people do what matters most every day.