Stress. It’s defining us. We are under so much stress – it is the state of our emotional and mental strain and the tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances. Circumstances are external in nature but choices are internal. We cannot control outside circumstances yet we have total control over the internal mental and emotional choices we make. Mindfulness shapes how we approach circumstances and choices.

Pain is inevitable; misery is optional. ~ Hyrum Smith

We are what we ______? Many people fill in this sentence with “eat.” I have also heard, “we are what we say, do, read, forgive, collect, worry about, ignore, fear, or chase” and many many more. I believe the single most powerful answer to that sentence is think. We are what we Think.

Flu shots – are they worthwhile? People argue vehemently for both sides. If you believe strongly that they work or that they don’t, you are most likely correct. It’s called the “placebo effect.” If we think a certain way, such as that a flu shot works or it doesn’t work, it will influence our actions, our emotions, and our outcomes.

6 Keys To Mindfulness

The ways we should be more mindful are to be more irritated, aggravated, rebellious, worried, unforgiving, and always be more right than somebody else. Ok, see what I did there? It was a readership test, as the 6 main keys above are actually mindfulness killers, not ways to be more mindful.

We can think negatively in those terms regarding circumstances and choices in the same amount of time it takes to think positively about them. Dr. Andrew Weil, noted mindfulness author and expert, says we can enjoy positive steps toward mindfulness with these 6 words:

Compassion – is the key to empathy. Compassion is wanting to help others and doing what we can to stop their suffering. Compassion is one of the feelings that helps to end feelings of loneliness.

 Joy – not to be mistaken for happiness, joy is a burst of bliss. Joy allows us to feel most connected – like in a new love, or when we are holding a newborn. Joy is beautiful and we want more.

Laughter – giggles are great and laughter is healing. Treatments come externally, healing comes internally. Our ability to laugh can cure – through oxygen increasing blood flow and sensory stimulation.

“If you can get someone to laugh, you can get them to care.” ~ Norman Lear

Love – passionate, motherly, friendship, children, and pets are all forms of love. Love is a way of being; a value held in how we think of our world. Sensing and touching love in our thoughts doesn’t allow as much time for the negativity all around us.

Happiness – is more than an empty goal, it’s more a by-product of our state of mind. Happiness can be about the nice weather, missing all the red lights, or dinner with family. Emotional health or meaningfulness may provide more lasting happiness. Strive for meaning and happiness goes up.

Gratitude – is a perspective cultivated when we realize, acknowledge, and express all the good in our lives. Do you have both your legs? Can you see a sunset? Gratitude is the appreciation and inventory we take-in of simple gifts we already have.

It takes the same time to think negative as the time it takes to think good. Change your thoughts, change your words, change your world.

Stress Be Gone,

Jim