OK: You’re stressed, and you know it. Your inbox is overflowing; back-to-back meetings are making you fall further and further behind; and you just got a call from your child’s school saying that he’s sick and you have to come and get him. As you get in the car, all you can think about are the three deadlines you have for proposals this week, and your mind starts racing through the mountain of information you have to process before you can even begin writing. Suddenly, your own throat starts to feel a little scratchy, and you’re certain you won’t get any sleep tonight.
At a time like this, there is absolutely, positively one person you must ignore. The reason why is not only because it won’t help to listen; it will actually make things far worse both physically and metaphysically, keeping you stressed far longer than you might otherwise need to be.
The good news is that this person isn’t real. You just think he/she is. And once you learn to ignore him/her, your life is going to get a whole lot easier because your own natural positive energy will no longer be blocked.
Who is it?
You.
Not the person you see when you look in the mirror; the voice in your head you think is you. You know it all too well, because it comments on everything you do, usually in the negative. This is because, as I’ve pointed out in past blogs, we think approximately 50,000 thoughts each day, but more than 80%, or 40,000 are framed negatively. This is a combination of our survival instinct; the fact that we socialize around the negative (“I feel your pain” vs. “I share your happiness”); and because we need something negative to happen in order to have jobs or reasons to feel alive and challenged.
Because we’re wired for survival, this voice likes to project trouble into the future to help protect us from it. Simultaneously, it loves to bring up painful parts of the past to prevent us from making the same mistakes twice. One problem with this is that just at a time when we need a fresh thought, all we get are recycled ones that keep us stressed.
The other problem is every time the voice speaks and we listen to it, it stresses our physical bodies because we feel every thought we think. This makes us tired and possibly physically ill, just when we need to be at the top of our game. Author Carolyn Myss points out that our biology is our biography. So if you find yourself thinking someone or something is a pain in the neck, it’s possible you will actually experience a pain in your neck. Or if you feel you’re carrying the weight of the world at work, you’ll get on the scale and see additional pounds, even if you have not changed your diet.
If you need proof of this, simply close your eyes and think about anything that stresses you out. As you do, notice where your body feels tight or uncomfortable. Put simply: whatever you think, you feel. And metaphysically, what you feel gets reflected in your life experience, because everything is made of energy and you’re always experiencing life situations that are an energetic match to how you feel, not what you want.
How to stop stress in its tracks
The first thing to do is to realize you’re stressed. This is usually easy to do, because when the voice takes over, it’s very easy to become tired…fast.
Next, disconnect from the voice as quickly as you can. One easy way to do this is to simply ask yourself, “I wonder what my next thought will be?” When it makes its appearance, laugh and say, “Oh, THAT one?” Repeat as necessary until the stress disappears.
Another way to disconnect from the voice is to distract yourself from it. I designed my book for this purpose: “Feathers: 50 Things You Can Do in 50 Seconds or Less to Lighten Up and Set Yourself Free.” Simply say, “what feather will help me lighten up right now?” and open the book at random. In the time it takes to read the short description, you will have disconnected from what bothers you and unblocked the positive flow of energy in your biofield, making it far more likely that the resources you do need to escape from or resolve the stress will show up.
If you need more ideas to reduce your stress, here are 10 great ones from WebMD.
A note of caution the next time you’re stressed
Remember this: if the voice in your head had the answer to your problem, you wouldn’t have the problem. And plain logic says if you take the advice of a voice that’s worried, frustrated or certain of a catastrophe you’re likely to stay stuck.
So if you’re looking for answers, look outside yourself. Get clear on how you want to feel: balanced, peaceful, calm, focused, clear, etc. State your intention to shift into that frame of mind and being. You’ll feel better instantly, simultaneously opening your biofield so the positive, life-affirming energy inside you can flow again, making it far more likely the resources and support you need will show up as what I like to call “mini-miracles.”
Ignore the voice, and you’ll likely discover the issues that triggered it disappear quickly and easily, with far less effort than you ever imagined.
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