Stress is Optional!

I had a wonderful opportunity today to participate in a Life Coaching seminar called Stress is Optional. It was fabulous and I learned several things about stress. I want to share a couple of things I took away from this seminar.

1. Stress is of course triggered by our thoughts about an event. The most important thing to remember is that the "event" is not emotional, our thoughts are. We cannot control it, only our reaction to it. Think of it this way:
Event = Traffic (something we cannot control)
Thoughts on Traffic = I hate being late. Why can't others drive better? Why won't those people go and get out of my way? (Notice how every thought was about me?)
Reaction = Honking, yelling, road rage

So to deal with the stress I'll have to retrain my brain to think differently about traffic. I don't have to like traffic; I just have to change my thoughts so my reaction isn't stressful.

2. Balance. There are four factors for living in balance. They are:
a) Physical – Body (Image, Fitness, Nutrition)
b) Psychological – Thoughts & Emotions (Fun & Recreation, Happiness, Learning)
c) Social – Environment & Relationships (Work, Environment, Relationships)
d) Spiritual – Soul (Higher Power, Growth & Investment, Life Purpose)

Imagine each of the items in parenthesis is a wheel on a car. If one is pumped up more than another, then your ride will be very bumpy. Rate them on a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being the highest and most completely satisfied with that area of your life. If you’re like most people, some will be higher than others. This is what causes the bumpy ride. Work each day to improve the lower ones so you can get them all up high enough for a smooth ride.

It was a really great seminar and I wish I could share all of it with you, because we could all use a bit less stress.