Quelling the Chaos
I internalize things, a lot of things: stress, frustrations, worries, perceptions of people or events that occur. I’ll over think a situation, trying to figure out every little detail, oftentimes before the event or potential circumstance even occurs. While a certain amount of planning and forethought is necessary, too much of it can cause toxic stress to build up in our minds, which in turn affects our emotions and actions.
Last week’s example of the wasp and broken window blind reminded me that as much as I have learned over the past couple of years regarding mind management, is still an area that I have room to grow in. I was frustrated due to unexpected circumstances that changed my expectations for that evening. I became even more stressed because I was annoyed at myself for being frustrated and stressed out in the first place. I was stressing about stressing, for goodness’ sake! I noticed that as the stress level rose, so did my body’s response to the toxic thoughts I had allowed to grow in my mind.
Throughout that entire situation, I realized that I was at least recognizing the triggers of what was causing me to internalize the stress based on my perception of the situation. Sometimes half the battle of learning how to change our mindset is recognizing what triggers our reactions to certain circumstances. By being self-aware, it is allows us to analyze our thoughts and make a conscious decision to change our thoughts about the situation, which in turn, changes our emotions and actions.
As I felt myself internalizing the stress, I had to decide if I was going continue feeling exasperated and aggravated about the events of the evening, or if I was going to try and change my reaction and attitude toward the situation. It felt like a storm was swirling inside of me and I desperately wanted to quell the internal chaos. Did my attempts to calm myself down turn out perfectly? Nope. But at least I was aware of my thoughts and the resulting emotions and tried to shift my perspective. That’s growth.
There were a few actions I took that I found to be helpful in my attempt to shift my attitude about the events of that night. I took several deep breaths to increase my oxygen level and help my brain think more clearly. It meant making a decision to re-prioritize what things I accomplished that night. I had to choose to be grateful for my loving husband killing the wasp, instead of focusing on the fact that the window blind got broken in the process. I had to be thankful that my husband picked me up dinner, even though our food order was incorrect and was missing items. As I slowly began shifting my perspective, I noticed my body becoming calmer as I released the things I couldn’t control and instead, tried to embrace the moment and be grateful for the blessings that surrounded me.
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