I wont bore you with the details, nor the variables of the stressful situation because its neither the time nor the place. However, I do feel the need to talk about the process.

Like you, I try my best to flow in those moments of stress. Sometimes I do it well, other times I could do it better. While feeling under pressure and overwhelmed with responsibility, we either do what needs to be done or we fall apart. How we react will depend upon what we think and how we feel about stressful situations. And it will also depend on what else we are juggling in our lives.

Some people thrive on challenges, while others are barely surviving in their comfort zones.

What is the purpose of stress ?

I believe such experiences are a challenge to test how positive, productive and loving we can be during physical and emotional pressure.

I believe such experiences either challenge or reinforce our choices and motivate our forward action.

I’m learning how to make better choices for myself, so that less stress is experienced because lets face it, its not good for us or the people around us.

But sometimes we find ourselves thrown into a situation where we haven’t been given much choice. So we either sink or swim. We either DO or die. We either stay or GO. We either fight or flow with it.

We either moan about how its impacted on our own life or we seek the message and the lesson that this experience brings.

The choice is still ours to make

During the stressful situation we usually dont have much time to reflect over what we are thinking or how we are feeling. We are generally focused on trying to maintain a positive attitude, getting the job done and responding to the needs of others. But the aftermath of a challenging or stressful experience is another experience in itself.

If we are consciously aware of ourselves then our mind will process the thoughts and our body will express itself with all those yummy “feelings”

We may feel disappointed, annoyed, frustrated or angry with those who we “believe” have placed us in this situation. Or we may feel disappointed, annoyed, frustrated or angry with ourselves for putting ourselves there in the first place.

Whatever we feel is valid … allow the emotion to flow without attaching to it

Whatever we think is valid … allow the thoughts to flow without attaching to it

This process is important, which is why debriefing is highly recommended. Depending on how stressful the situation has been, we will either offload to our friends and/or family, or seek out professional support.

When we dont observe our thoughts and express our feelings, then our not so great habits can kick in. We smoke more cigs, we drink more booze, we eat more junk, we complain more, we suppress more. Habits that we “think” soothe and comfort us, but in truth they are destroying us.

I believe that our stressful experiences are valuable opportunities of learning. We not only learn a lot about ourselves and others during such times, we can also reflect over how we can make better choices for ourselves and others.

I feel like staying in my jimmy jams, scoffing junk food and guzzling down some whiskey. I could quite easily replay the situation over and and over in my mind and continue to feel frustrated about something I have no power to change. But instead, I said YES to my sisters offer of an afternoon walk.

Mindful interaction ❤