At any given moment, you have the power to say; this is not how the story is going to end.
Hello Followers,
Welcome to Monday!
Today, let us begin with a timeless reminder, the goal in the weeks and months ahead is to gradually grow stronger on the inside, so that almost nothing on the outside can affect your inner wellness without your conscious permission.
How you cope with unexpected stress and frustration can easily be the difference between living a good life and living an unhealthy one.
If you choose unhealthy coping mechanisms like avoidance or denial.
For example, you can quickly turn a tough situation into a tragic one.
And sadly, this is a common mistake many people make.
When you find yourself facing a disheartening reality, your first reaction might be to deny the situation, or to avoid dealing with it altogether.
By doing so you are inadvertently holding on even tighter to the pain that you wish to let go of.
You are, in effect, sealing it up inside you.
Let us imagine someone close to you has grown ill, and supporting this person through his or her illness is incredibly painful.
You might not want to deal with the pain, so you cope by avoiding it, by finding ways to numb yourself with alcohol and unhealthy eating.
And consequently, you grow physically ill also while the pain continues to fester inside you.
Obviously, that is not good.
If you notice yourself doing something similar, it is time to pause, admit to yourself that you are coping by avoiding, and then shift your focus to a healthier coping mechanism.
When you face struggles with an attitude of openness, open to the painful feelings and emotions you have, you will find out that it is not comfortable.
But you can still be fine with it, and you can still step forward.
Openness means you do not instantly decide that you know this is only going to be a horrible experience.
It means you admit that you do not really know what the next step will be like, and you would like to understand the whole truth of the matter.
It is a learning stance, instead of one that assumes the worst.
So, as we have been exploring words and how it effects our health, I welcome you to check out the past two weeks posts with words such as, time, faith, self-worth, happiness, encouragement, self-talk, optimism, karma, forgiveness, trust, appreciation, thoughts and words, power, rebuilding, passion, confidence, connection, transitioning, motivation, and preparation.
Today the word is coping.
Coping certainly is not an easy practice.
And Dan and I are not suggesting that it is.
What we are suggesting is that it is worth your while.
With practice, healthy coping allows you to find better ways of managing life’s continuous stream of unexpected and uncontrollable circumstances.
For example…
When a task is harder than you expected it to be.
Instead of running from a daunting and overwhelming task, you can accept it and see what it is like to feel uncomfortable and overwhelmed, and still act anyway.
Drafting a book is daunting and overwhelming, but you can still write one even with those feelings rolling through you.
I know when I was in the middle of drafting my book, it took me places that I would have never explored.
There could be an interaction with someone that you love, angers, or frustrates you.
Instead of lashing out at a loved one when you are upset with them, you can sit quietly with your difficult feelings and just be open to what it is like to feel them.
Once you have had a moment to breathe, you can see what it is like to deal compassionately with someone you love with whom you are also upset.
Try to understand them instead of just judging them at their worst.
When unhealthy cravings overwhelm you out of nowhere.
You may be inclined to indulge in unhealthy cravings like alcohol and sweets for comfort when you are feeling stressed out.
But you can sit with these feelings and be open to them instead, and then gradually build positive daily rituals for coping in healthier ways, taking walks, meditating, talking with someone about your feelings, and journaling.
When you are forced to deal with a loved one’s death.
Should someone you love pass away, the grief and sense of loss can seem overwhelming.
At that point, it is incredibly easy to give in to unhealthy, quick-fix ways of alleviating the pain.
But you must force yourself to do the opposite.
Give yourself compassion, to sit with the powerfully difficult thoughts and feelings you have, and to open your mind to what lies ahead.
Gradually it becomes evident that death is not just an ending, but also a beginning.
Because while you have lost someone special, this ending, like all losses, is a moment of reinvention.
Although sad, their passing forces you to reinvent your life, and in this reinvention is an opportunity to experience beauty in new, unseen ways and places.
Of course, we have merely just scratched the surface of an endless pool of possibilities for healthy coping.
The key thing to understand is that by learning to cope in healthier ways, you will find that you can better handle anything life throws your way, and come out stronger, and often even happier, than you were before.
In the end, the world is as if you are inside.
What you think, you see, and you ultimately become.
So, gather and choose your thoughts wisely.
Think how you want to live today.
As Dan and I start a new year; we will be posting daily 365 morning meditations for joyful days all year long.
The book is SUNRISE GRATITUDE by Emily Silva.
APRIL 17TH
THE ACT OF GENEROSITY brings abundance into your life.
When you are generous you are telling the universe thank you for the good in my life; I feel blessed and want to share the goodness that is been provided.
The energy we emit comes back to us.
Generosity does not only mean monetary giving.
We can be generous with our time, our talents, and our love.
When we give with an open heart, we are operating from a place of abundance.
PHRASE TO REMEMBER; Health is Wealth.
We stand by this and continue to do daily; walk, meditation, Tai Chi, and Qigong.
Dan and I have started back bouncing and walking to Walk at Home YouTube.
It is always important to change your routine around you but continue keeping a healthy lifestyle.
For us, that may be walking through a park, walking in a mall, or going to the gym and just staying home, bouncing, and walking to Walk at Home with YouTube.
This also includes daily meditation and twice a week Tai Chi.
Coping With Change, Guided Meditation to Support you to Manage Change in Difficult Times.
A deeply relaxing and reassuring guided meditation to support you to manage change in difficult times.
It combines mindfulness, grounding, breath awareness, positive thinking, and positive affirmations.
If you would like to follow with us; hash tag words #walk, #meditation #Qigong on the right of the main blog page.
Until Tuesday, start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS. HAVE A SUPER MONDAY!
