Is Stress Controlling Your Life?
What is the holistic approach to health read what I have to say about stress and it’s negative affects.
Have you ever met that person that nothing ever seems to bother them? They never get stressed out, they always see the good side of things, and always have a good time no matter what the situation. I see this trait a lot in the so called hippy crowd. I can hear the responses now, yeah Charles that’s because they are stoned all the time, and no that is not it, because you know people who are like this who are not on any type of outside influence. What is it, that they know that we don’t? What has happened to them to have this outlook on life?
I am going to try and give you some things to do to set you on the path to this lifestyle.
We often tend to blow things out of proportion and overreact, and upon closer examination are not really that big of a deal. I see road rage on a daily basis, fingers flying left and right, which accomplishes what? Someone cuts in front of you in traffic, rather than let the guy in we blow up and get angry, then we play out a imaginary confrontation in our mind, which we believe justifies our anger, then we dwell on the incident all day, we even tell people at work what this stupid person did today on the way to work. We know how stressful it is to be in a hurry and rushed, so have compassion for the person that cut you off and not let his stressful life become yours. There are many situations on a daily basis that test your patience, and that is exactly what they are Tests. Will you pass or fail?
Developing Compassion
Compassion is the ultimate and most meaningful embodiment of emotional maturity. It is through compassion that a person achieves the highest peak and deepest reach in his or her search for self-fulfillment. Arthur Jersild
Compassion can be defined as a sympathetic feeling for others. It is one of the major lessons of Buddhism. It involves the thought of putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes, to take the focus off of yourself and think what the other person might be going through and at the same time have sympathy and love for them. Compassion is something that can be developed by opening your heart to others and make an attempt to alleviate the suffering as if it were one’s own. I will give you an assignment which will help you understand compassion. Do a search for Buddha’s first noble truth, and contemplate it a while and you will come to a better understanding of the suffering of mankind, which in turn will help you to wonder what might be bothering others, and then help you to feel compassion.
Random acts of kindness
Start performing random acts of kindness, Wow Charles what do you mean by this? There are many ways you can go out of your way on a daily basis and do something for someone else without any hope for something in return. Some people will be suspicious as to why you are doing this, it’s sad that we live in a “there is no such thing as something for nothing” world. One thing that I have done before is pay someones toll at a toll booth, can you imagine what goes through the persons mind when they pull up to the window and the worker tells them go on through the person in front paid for you. I have always thought, and this is taught in Buddhism also if you want the world or people around you to change, you must first change yourself. A random act of kindness comes from your heart, pick up garbage in your neighborhood, send money in an unmarked envelope to ease someones financial stress, volunteer at a homeless shelter, go visit people in a nursing home. Every time you do something like this it will bring contentment into your life, every act of random kindness rewards you with positive feelings and reaffirms the importance of life, service, kindness, and love. I guarantee if you do this on a regular basis it will make a profound difference in your life and set you on the path to being that person that is bothered by nothing.
Past Traps
Learn to let go of the past, we poison ourselves by holding grudges or resentment. We have got to learn to empty our minds of the negative memories which create anxiety and pressure in our lives, you have heard this a million times, It’s the past, there is nothing that you can do to change it, the worse thing you can do is let it affect your future. All of us have had bad things happen to us, some are worst than others, it is no mystery that our individual histories are complex and multifaceted. In many instances they are very painful. Now although our pasts have shaped us in to who we are today, one of the key things to future happiness is to let go of our past forgive those who have wronged us, so that are wonderful future is not tainted. I know people who have the thoughts of how better our lives would have been if such and such wouldn’t have happened, or how much better or worse my life would be if certain conditions are met. These people are sabotaging themselves. As we become less attached to the events that have happened in the past, we become better equipped to make wise and appropriate adjustments today. Don’t let your past become your trap!
Slow down on your Response!
Being a quick witted person can sometimes get you in trouble, have you ever said something and then after you said it thought, that didn’t come out right, or that didn’t sound right? We get very excited in our responses sometimes and end up saying things that we shouldn’t have, ever heard the expression “I put my foot in my mouth”? I’ve done it before, you probably have also, everyone has made an over the top statement before, we also make it worse my responding to something that we don’t have all the facts to. Now that doesn’t mean you have to stay silent all the time, it just means slow down, think about what you are going to say before you verbalize it, make sure you have all of the facts before you make a statement about something, don’t put yourself in a uncomfortable situation, and most of all don’t be a part of gossip. I know this all takes practice, but slowly work on one thing at a time until it becomes habit.
Stop Blaming Others
When something doesn’t meet your expectations, do you blame others? Because you are never wrong. Yeah right! You can’t find something, so someone must have moved it. You always interrupt me, she always tells me what to do, he never considers my opinion, I have to do all the work, I never get a break. The tendency for people to blame others for their difficulties is very widespread, it is often why we gravitate toward like groups of people, they often provide refuge for us with like minded people who will agree with us that our problems are out there instead of within. If there is any perceived truth in our blame of a particular target, then we dump all the blame on them. This excuses us from looking at ourselves. Isn’t that convenient?
Sometimes we can be our worst critics
It is sad but true that we can be our own worst enemies. Don’t criticize yourself for falling short or for not meeting your goals. If we keep reaffirming to ourselves that we suck or were no good, then we will be just that. I forgot who said this but “If you think you can; you can, and if you think you can’t; you can’t”, either way your right. Just take it easy, refuse to listen to that voice in your head that says your not good enough, and make positive affirmations. Change the critical statements to positive affirmations, you’re doing great, tell yourself everyday You Are Perfect! One of the common things I see when people are trying to reduce stress is that they become frustrated by little setbacks, cut yourself some slack, and see setbacks for what they are, a learning opportunity, Say to yourself Oops, I lost it. Oh well, next time I will handle it better, and move on.
If this article has helped you. Please consider going to the Donation Page and leaving $1.00 which will allow me to keep bringing you these Free inspirational articles.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment