Overcome Stress!

Stress, anxiety and panic are everywhere, aren’t they?  Yesterday I was sitting in traffic and I was trying to turn left – and anywhere in Chicagoland, that’s never an easy task.  There were cars building up behind me and as I looked in my rear-view mirror, I saw the driver behind me was getting frustrated, angry and aggressive.

Needless to say, that created anxiety for me and I began to also get frustrated and angry with the constant flow of cars that were stopping me from turning left.  I kept looking in the rear-view mirror and started to carry the anxiety that the driver behind me was experiencing.  I went from a peaceful state to complete frustration and all I could focus on was how I couldn’t accomplish what I needed. 

And then it hit me – my mission and goal was to successfully turn left and not get into an accident.  So if I was pursuing what I needed to do and making the best judgment call I could, why was I so caught up in someone else’s frustration? 

Though it’s a basic example, I wonder how often we all practice carrying emotion that we don’t need to.  From our bosses at work to our families, others expectations of who we are and how we operate in our lives can have a lasting impact on our stress level.  So often we have a goal – like turning left – and work very hard on carrying it out, but allow someone else’s opinions or inappropriate emotion ruin our progress. 

So how do we cope with the people that try to derail us?  I mean, it’s not possible for me to never experience road rage again, right?  It’s not possible be employed and never experience a coworker that has a bad attitude, either!   

Two words – self confidence.  Trust the fact that you know what’s best for you. 

On a day to day basis, we make choices (some big, some small) that are right for us – even if it appears to be wrong to someone else.  Trust who you are and believe in the decisions you make to reach your success.  At the end of the day, you are in charge of your own destiny and happiness – and developing the confidence to walk that road takes strength.

Find just that – confidence and strength.  Trust in who you are and stay focused on your dreams … Happiness is within you right at this moment – don’t let anyone take it away from you!

To the difficult road of happiness,

Michelle