Monthly Archives: August 2019

Joys of Accepting and Mastering Discomfort (aka. Stress Management and Mastery)

Reflect back on your life. The further back you remember, the more you can find what stands out and matters most to you. Do your best, your happiest, your most cherished memories include relationships that had ups and downs? Do they include new experiences that could not be predicted, no matter how small or mundane? Do they include memories when you worked really hard and achieved something that seemed impossible and you felt so proud? Do they include those thrilling moments when you knew you had created something incredible?

Yes. The greatest joys and personal growth often come from moments in life when you work through the discomfort and get to the other side. There are times in life when we accept or are forced to accept situations that we do not choose, that throw us into the unpredictable and uncontrollable, that make us uncomfortable. We all have to get to the other side of that. Let me share with you how you can make that journey a bit easier.

Here are the steps to mastering the discomfort. Writing this down or talking about this with a close confidant or neutral person can be helpful.

  1. Identify your discomfort and figure out what is in your control and what is not in your control. What is causing you discomfort? Why? Describe and label it.
  2. Take what is NOT in your control & “put it away.” Imagine putting it into a storage container or a mental file cabinet or write it down and put it away. You can re-visit this later -if you want.
  3. Take what IS in your control & “work it.” Think about best and worst case scenarios.
  4. Consider worst case scenarios and figure out ahead of time everything in your control – that you can do – to prevent the worst case scenario and make a plan to do that. Figure out how you would manage it if the worse case still came to be. Consider how that scenario could be the Universe (whatever higher power you believe in) delivering you a gift to teach you something important you need to learn, to benefit you or another being, or to propel your personal growth forward and upwards. Recognize you are resilient and accept that you are doing the best you can with what IS in your control.
  5. Now, spend time focusing on what you DO want to have happen, the outcome you ARE aiming for. Visualize, dream, brainstorm, strategize and make plans to go for the BEST case scenario. Define it, label it, “see it.” Regularly repeat this step- the more the better.

Mastery is when you are in control of the discomfort rather than the discomfort in control of you. Remember that everything happens for a reason and we may not know the reason right away. Appreciate that the discomforts in our life are there as messages to help us refocus. Accept that there will be those times of discomfort and then make a plan to master the discomfort and keep moving forward. You’ve got this.

Healthier Together Series: 7B. Physical Activity – Stimulus to Change

robert-collins-tvc5imO5pXk-unsplashWe are always changing. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on many factors, some of which are in our control and some of which are not in our control. The best part — We Are Designed to Thrive! Provide your body the right environment, and your body can heal, regenerate, and thrive. This is reassuring.

Throughout the Healthier Together Series, we continue to share the ways in which we can help create the right environment for your body to thrive.

Nutrition provides your body with the “supplies” to create new cells and to do what it needs to do. Depending on the nutrition you provide, you will have healthier or less healthy cells and you will have better or worse function of those cells in your body. So we can make choices about our nutrition.

Physical activity, is the way we signal to the body that we need to be alive and that we need to “change” or adapt to be able to thrive. It is actually the stimulus for change. In fact, if you decrease your physical activity enough, your body starts to decay. This leads to rapid aging and decline in function. The good news – it doesn’t have to be that way and you can turn it around. Even if your body is not in its best state right now, or you feel unwell, or you have chronic health concerns, or if you are in good shape and want to continue to be well and maintain your independence and freedom as long as possible, over the long term, by moving your body, you stimulate your body to continue to “change” to stay functionally “young.”

When you make choices to power your body with the essential nutrients – like water, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins (vegetables), you provide it with everything it needs to repair itself the best it can. Then, when you make the choice to move your body, regularly, in health-promoting ways, you stimulate your body to heal, regenerate and thrive. Your body can and does the work to “get better.” Physical activity is one of the areas that is in your control and can be a powerful stimulus for your body to heal, regenerate and thrive. The choice is yours. For me, I’m heading out with family for the evening walk around the neighborhood to connect and provide that stimulus for change. =)