It’s your choice

In life we make choices daily. Some are minor choices like, what to shoes wear, or what to eat for lunch. Others are major choices like, what career field to follow, or who to marry. For many people there can be some stress around the major choices. This is to be expected. For some people stress comes in making minors decisions, too. Not the best for your health to be stressing over everything.

The idea about stress that revolves around major things, is that is causes you to be cautious, do your research, and hopefully make a wise choice.

For those unexpected nightmare scenarios, stress can be good as it may bring us to take life saving action. It’s okay to have that momentary freak out. The key is to gather your composure and realize: This is the situation.

• Ask yourself, “How do I handled this going forward?”

• Make a thought-out choice and act on it.

• Tweak as necessary.

Stressing over everything is not only unhealthy, but it effects those around you, as well. Constant stress can cause physical and/or mental health problems. Some steps to help ease feelings of overwhelm are:

• Do something that helps you relax (deep breathing, tai-chi, listen to calming music, etc.)

• Exercise

• Get 6-9 hours if sleep

• Delegate when/what you can

• It’s okay to say no.

• Realize that nobody’s perfect, cut yourself (and others) a little slack

• Remember airline safety… put on your oxygen mask before assisting others. Self-care is not selfish, it is vital. If you don’t take care of yourself, you may not be able to care for others.

I recently heard someone say, “They made me feel…” and I cringed. In reality, no one can “make you feel” any way. They make have done or said something and you felt a certain way, but that was your reaction to it. They didn’t “make” that reaction happy. You have a choice about how you reaction to words and actions. Now, this process takes practice. A quick feeling to something hurtful comes in our nature. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. We can learn to pause and then choose our reaction, which can help reduce the stress in our lives.

Personally, my reaction to “drama” is to walk away. I don’t need, or want, drama in my life. Drama can cause chaos and stress. I don’t allow it. If I’m involved, I try to bring truth, humor, and peace into it, to help people deescalate. If that doesn’t work, I simply say, “I gotta go. Let’s revisit this when everything calms down.”

Try it. Practice keeping your gut reaction in check and find a more peaceful way to go about your day. It’s your choice.