Looking around today, you might say it’s just a bit negative out there.
First came the gas price wars, then the mortgage crash, then the stocks, and finally the banks. People are losing their jobs, their homes, even their lives. One man got so depressed he shot his family and then himself! How depressing!
So how in the world are we supposed to stay positive in such a negative world?
Here are 10 Ways to Beat The Stress and Stay Positive!
- Stick To Your Values List your top 5 values and live your life according to them. No compromising. If you’re a strict Vegan now, don’t change just because the economy stinks. Hold on to your values. You’ll be happy that you were true to yourself in the long run.
- Establish Personal Goals Set goals for things that are important to you. Exercising, a healthy diet, spending more time with your family. Completing a goal is always rewarding and sure to cheer you up.
- Don’t Let The Media Think For You It’s easy to get caught up in the hype. Don’t try and live your life according to someone else’s ideals. We all know our family or health is way more important than what Paris Hilton is wearing today or what celebrity ‘X’ rap singer is eating for breakfast.
- Get Spiritual Now I’m not saying go religious if it’s not your cup of tea. Spirituality covers a lot more ground than just mainstream religion. Learn to get quiet, maybe meditate or try yoga. It helps with stress and you may just learn something about yourself.
- Step Away From the Computer and TV Especially the TV. And especially the nightly news. You’re in a relaxed brainwave kind of mode anyway when you watch TV, so all we need is more negativity seeping into our subconscious right before we go to sleep. (or more pharmaceutical ads) If you have to watch TV, turn of something funny. Laughter, after all is good medicine.
- Avoid Stressful Situations whenever Possible We all know chronic stress is bad for us. It turns on our internal fight or flight mechanism, which increases our heart rate, our blood pressure, and sends even more adrenaline through our bloodstream (as if we don’t have enough already). Traffic jam? Take an alternate route. Long line at the grocery store? Move to a different line or go to another store. Stress CAN be avoided.
- Skip the Nightly News I know, a repeat here, but well worth mentioning again. News channels don’t make money selling feel good, inspirational stories. Nope. Disaster, Murder, Crisis, Rape. That’s what sells. Can you say more stress? Especially before going to bed? Yikes!
- Organize! Are you disorganized like I am? Sometimes I hate walking into my pig stye office. I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about the mess I need to clean up. Take small steps, a hour or two a week, or one day a month, and declutter. You’ll be much happier walking into a neat and tidy room. (note to self read number 8 again and again)
- Give Yourself Extra Time I arrive at work about an hour before my shift starts. Why so early I’m often asked. I give myself extra time. I hate getting rushed. It’s avoidable stress. Give yourself a little cushion by allowing extra time to get to where you’re going. Don’t live your day as if it’s a race. (it's not)
- Your Response To Life Is A Choice Every response is a choice. If someone makes you angry, says something mean, or does something cruel, you really can’t change the situation once it’s already happened. And you certainly can’t change the people involved, really the only thing you CAN change is your response, or attitude. Learn not to overreact. And remember the little book...Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff!
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