I’ve had a massive breakthrough on discovering how to best enjoy the journey of life!

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Let’s first consider where this journey started… Around June of last year I decided to think about leaving my job (which meant I would have to quit the companies that I actually co-owned). After 8 years of very hard work, massive highs and serious lows I felt that I was on the wrong road going in the wrong direction. Nothing was working for me – my frustration was through the roof, my relationships were strained and my stress levels were killing me. Seriously – I was going down and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

At the end of July I decided to start my blog, ‘EnjoyingTheJourney.co.uk’ to demonstrate that it’s possible to make your journey through life more enjoyable. Little did I know that I was in for a massive emotional roller coaster ride.

By September I grew the balls to say enough is enough and I quit. I gave three months’ notice to the Board (me and my business partner) and started working from home. When I wasn’t working, I started to read (more than I usually do), enlisted the help of a professional therapist (weekly), listened to mediation/hypnosis CD’s, wrote articles about what was working/not working for me, talked openly with friends, ranted about how unfortunate I was to be born into a dysfunctional family, tried various techniques to clear past trauma and outdated beliefs, watched self-help DVD’s, started doing affirmations and seriously started to get real about what I really wanted and who I really was.

Seriously – a few months ago I didn’t know who Kim was. I didn’t know what Kim wanted and I totally had no clue about what it meant to ‘follow your heart.’

For years I’ve been looking for answers. I’ve tried to figure out how I could ‘fix’ myself – how I could find a way to live that felt good.

Well…for me, I’ve found some answers. I’ve found a way to feel good and I’m elated. So many things have recently connected and perhaps if I share some things with you, you’ll be able to gain from my experiences? Or if nothing else, perhaps I can at least demonstrate that it is possible to live in hell and find your way out of it?

Last week I flew home to Rochester, New York to help my mother with her business. I had no expectations. I just few home to help out.

Amazing Incident #1

Within 5 minutes of arriving to my parents’ home, my mom slipped up and let it out that my brother was flying in to surprise me. I was extremely pleased by the news and couldn’t believe that I’d be able to spend some time with him.

Meanwhile, my mother’s first reaction was to say, ‘Oh no…I can’t believe I slipped up. I hate myself. What a jerk I am.’ I watched my mom’s reaction in awe. I couldn’t believe that she was beating herself up so much over something that didn’t really matter. (Even if it did matter, I can’t believe that she was saying she hated herself!) Over the course of the day she carried on making comments similar to those just mentioned. I kept telling her to not worry about it but what I really wanted to say was, ‘why would you talk to yourself in such a way?’

I’m fairly certain that my mom would get more aggravated if I mentioned her poor self-talk. In fact, it would probably cause her to increase her negative comments (to herself).

What was amazing about this whole thing is that I never noticed her doing this before…and what blows me away is that I was just like her only a few months ago. My self-talk was a constant barrage of insults. I constantly told myself I wasn’t good enough, I didn’t say the right things, I wasn’t a good mum, I was a terrible friend, a horrible wife, I wasn’t pretty enough (and on and on and on).

I’m not sure when things changed, but something has seriously shifted. I actually like myself – and I think it’s the first time in my entire life that I felt loved and lovable. If you’re not from a messed up family, this might sound bizarre, but I always felt very unloved and very unwanted as a kid. And those feelings never left. (Until now)

Seeing my mom made me realise that I have grown…I have found a way to enjoy my journey of life more.

Amazing Incident #2

Picture this – I leave Rochester at 8pm and fly to Dullus International (Washington DC) but miss my plane back to Heathrow. I manage to get United to pay for a hotel but I can’t get my luggage. I sleep in a nice Marriot however the next morning I have no brush, no deodorant, no toothbrush, no makeup, no fresh clothes…and to make things even worse, my outfit was itchy! So there I was in line at security in Dullus feeling dirty, smelly and ugly and suddenly I recognised a very familiar but old feeling. I remembered how I use to feel when I was younger – I felt so ugly that I was ashamed of myself. I didn’t want to stand out…I wanted to hide…I wanted to die. ‘Oh God – why won’t you just take me away’ is what I said under my breath.

Then it hit me – that feeling of ugliness and no self-worth was how I lived every moment of my life. If that’s not Hell than I don’t know what is.

This tiny, small feeling that lasted mere seconds made me realise that I have grown, I am growing and the journey through life can get better and better and better. Sometimes it’s hard to know if you’re making progress but I received a message and heard it loud and clear.

My moments of ugliness and poor self-worth in recent years came and went… Through my various techniques I was able to keep them at bay, but now I actually think they’re gone forever.

Amazing Incident #3

This, for me, is the whopper of all whoppers. After returning home from the trip hubby was interested in some time for lovin’. I’ve never quite understood the concept of action orientated lovin’ – in fact, I can’t even talk about it. (As you can see – heehehehe). However, after the lovin’ came to a conclusion, and for the first time in my life, I felt okay. I wasn’t guilty. I didn’t feel like a bad person. I didn’t feel shame. And I didn’t feel the need to say, ‘Hubby – why do you love me?’

And then it hit me right smack between my eyes ‘OH – MY – GOD…I love myself’ Now I know why hubby loves me…I’m actually lovable.

I’m not sure how this might come across to you, but for me this is life changing stuff. In my teens I was depressed and suicidal, in my 20’s I ran away as far as I could, in my 30s I searched high and low to find answers. (Luckily – I’m still in my 30’s!) Each year I found a better and better way to live…but recently I’ve discovered something that is priceless. I’ve discovered that we all have a relationship with ourselves…and if that relationship isn’t good, life isn’t going to be good.#

I feel compelled to write a book about how to love yourself. Do you think anyone would read it?

Right – enough said.

 

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Success is all about failing over and over again – I know this first hand!

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“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over, and it’s because you fall over that you learn to save yourself from falling over.”

Richard Branson in his book Business Stripped Bare

When you’re a kid you don’t realise that you have a choice about failure. You simply have to fail over and over again and by doing so you eventually grasp things. My 20-month daughter demonstrates her ability to get knocked down and then get back up again on an hourly basis. In fact, today I was pretending to walk into the wall and bounce off – much to her delight. The sad thing is that when she modelled me, she actually ran into the wall full blast! Poor little thing. I must say that after the 3rd attempt she stopped running so fast.

Anyway – what happens to us? Where does the line get drawn and we say, ‘no – I’m not going to actually try things anymore. I’ll read all about successful people – I’ll watch documentaries on being successful…Heck, I’ll even talk about how successful I want to be, HOWEVER I’m not going to actually take any action towards being successful. Why? Because I might fail.’

That’s nuts. I’m quite fortunate because I’ve trained myself to feel comfortable with being uncomfortable. I’m actually really good at failing. I don’t like it, but I know it’s a necessary evil.

I have so many great friends that are super intelligent. They’re smart, beautiful, energised and full of life and energy…They talk about a better future and they dream of a time when they can actually be the best person they know they can be, but then they crawl back into their little shell and think, ‘it’s better the devil I know.’

Well let me say this – being successful did not come easy to me. It was hard. I failed over and over again. I looked like an idiot often and felt very alone. I thought I was different from others and that no one understood me. The thing that has spurred me on is that I don’t want to die (peacefully in my sleep at age 120 in perfect health) and think that I didn’t give it all I could. I didn’t want to look back and think, ‘Kim – why didn’t you go for everything? Why didn’t you figure out what you really wanted and then went for it?’

So…today I ask you this: Are you going for it? Are you being the best you can be? Are you at least trying to become the best you can be? If not – what the heck are you waiting for? Get out there and fail until you succeed!

Peace out.

 

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Can you look in the mirror at yourself and say ‘I love you’?

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Give it a try. I thought it would be easy, but aside from feeling silly, I found it hard to actually say the words. What was even harder was to look myself direct in the eyes…and to actually talk to myself in a loving way.

Over the past couple months I’ve listened to my self-talk and I’ve really paid attention to what other people say to themselves. My father-in-law often says to himself, ‘I’m useless.’ My husband sometimes says to himself, ‘I’m a thicky,’ and I’ve overheard many others say things like, ‘I’m not smart enough,’ or ‘good things don’t come to people like me,’ or ‘I’m not good enough.’

I’ve read often that the most important relationship we have is the one we have with ourselves.

I never really understood that until recently.

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, my father-in-law drives me nuts with his negativity. For years I’ve just ignored it but this new year I decided that I had to change my tact.

For some unexplainable reason I decided to forgive myself for being negative in the past. I also forgave myself for feeling deeply depressed. I gave myself a little hug and said to myself, “Kim – I forgive you for feeling low, feeling unworthy and feeling useless. I forgive you for being so down on yourself…for hating yourself. I love you and I’m here for you now to take care of you and give you lots of love.”

I’m not depressed nor have I been for years, but a part of me seemed to have held a grudge with myself for being so imperfect. I had a real issue with anyone that was depressed – I just didn’t want to know about it. It’s as if someone with depression caused me to recognise a part of me that was still alive (although not in my conscious memory)…

Ever since I forgave myself for being like my father-in-law (in the past), I’ve seemed to gain compassion for him. It’s very strange…but it makes sense.

I couldn’t give my father-in-law true compassion because I didn’t give it to myself. You can’t give out what you don’t have. A part of me hated myself for ever being depressed and that hatred lived in me even though I wasn’t aware of it.

Ever since I had a little chat with myself and forgave me I’ve become a very different person. For the first time ever my kindness offered to my father-in-law is not forced. Rather than acting kind, I’m actually being kind.

I suppose this kind of experience cannot be explained. It has to be lived.

For you to understand what I’m talking about, think of something that you absolutely hate in someone else. Perhaps you dislike a partner for being lazy or rude or overweight or whatever. Once you choose something, think of a time when you were younger and exhibited the same behaviour. Surely in your past you were lazy or rude or overweight or whatever. Think about how you felt about yourself – I’m sure you weren’t very nice to you.

If you were like me and suffered depression you might have thought, “I’m such a loser to be so depressed…I’m unlovable…I’m a nobody…I’ll never be anything.” Well – if you thought such terrible things about yourself perhaps those thoughts are still stuck in your body (or body’s memory).

Memories that we have when we’re younger wreak havoc on our adult lives. So – surely the conversations we had with ourselves could damage us too?

Anyway – find something that you strongly dislike in someone else, think if a time when you demonstrated that behaviour and how you felt about yourself and then forgive yourself…

Give it a go. It’s worth the time and effort to find out what it’s like to be kind rather than act it…there’s quite a major difference!

As a side note, ever since I forgave myself my father-in-law has become a totally different person. He’s helpful, open to try new things, positive and eager to contribute to the family. He still mentions bad news from the ‘Daily Mail’ and an occasional ache, but overall the guy is a new man.

Is his drastic change in character a result of my real kindness OR has my reality changed because I changed my inner world? Hmmmmmm?

 

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How to use affirmations to make yourself feel happier, lighter and more fulfilled with life

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Affirmations are an interesting topic in the world of self-help. It seems that authors/speakers either love them or hate them.

This is my take on them – if they work for you, use them. If they don’t work for you, don’t use them.

That being said, whenever I say an affirmation that rings true to me, I find myself either smiling or feeling lighter. If you’re a fan of Louise Hay (self-help guru) you’ll know more than enough about affirmations – if you’ve never come across her before and think that affirmations might work for you, check out her book, “You can heal your life” as it offers many affirmations for a wide variety of issues.

Previous to these past couple weeks I use affirmations flippantly. When I felt the need to cheer myself up, I might say, ‘Life loves me,’ or ‘Life flows easily for me’ or ‘Kim – you’re awesome!’

However my belief in affirmations has changed drastically. Right before Christmas I woke up with a bladder infection. My back felt like it was being twisted and pulled to pieces and my plumbing process was quite painful.

Having these infections in the past I knew that I probably needed yet another dose of antibiotics – something I desperately try to avoid now days. Knowing that my doctor’s office would be closed over the holidays I decided to look up my issue in Louise’s bestselling book. This is what the book said:

PROBLEM: Bladder Problems

PROBABLE CAUSE: Anxiety. Holding on to old ideas. Fear of letting go. Being pissed off.

NEW THOUGHT PATTERN: I comfortably and easily release the old and welcome the new in my life. I am safe.

So…The probable cause freaked me out as it’s totally true.  I immediately started reciting the ‘new thought pattern’ or affirmation every time I reflected on my painful situation. Within a day I felt relief but thought I was nuts. I’ve never had an infection leave that quickly nor have I had one leave without antibiotics.  I kept saying the affirmation every time I felt yucky. Before I knew it, the infection was gone. Even now I’m still saying it as it’s become a habit and I feel good once I recite the sentence!

I never really believed that affirmations could heal me – I always thought of them as ways to make yourself feel better. Well, now I’m convinced. Needless to say, I’ve typed out several affirmations and have put them around the house.

Yes – my friends and family will think I’m nuts when they go to the bathroom and see a piece of paper that says, “I easily release all that my body no longer needs” and “Intake, assimilations and elimination are all in the right order.”

Or by my closet, “I love my closet,” or “I trust my inner wisdom to pick the perfect out for me.” (I have serious issues when getting dressed – I look at all my clothes and think – ahhhhhh, what should I wear?!?!?)

So yes…friends will think I’m nuts when they see my little affirmations around the house, but so what! I’m now convinced that if I let my mind just do what it wants to do I’ll be thinking crap thoughts, such as ‘Oh Kim, you’re out of your depth.’ With these little reminders I can at least input some good stuff. And like my article the other day, it’s important to know if you’re putting ‘in’ what you want to get ‘out’ of your life?

Anyway, if you want to find Louise’s book, ‘You can heal your life’ here’s a write up from the Hay House site below and a link to Amazon.

“This New York Times Bestseller has sold over 30 million copies worldwide. Louise’s key message in this powerful work is: “If we are willing to do the mental work, almost anything can be healed.” Louise explains how limiting beliefs and ideas are often the cause of illness, and how you can change your thinking…and improve the quality of your life!”

Also – I just finished her new book, ‘You can have an exceptional life’ that was written in conjunction with Cheryl Richardson. It’s a light read and made me smile throughout. It gives you and really good idea on how Louise Hay manages to be as happy and as healthy as she is at the amazing age of 83. She’s definitely someone I wouldn’t mind emulating!

Please remember to sign up to my email list if you would like to receive my articles straight to your inbox.  The form is on the right-hand side of my website on every page.  Big love. x

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Are you putting ‘in’ what you want to get ‘out’ of your life?

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When you cook the ingredients you use dictate the quality of the food. If you buy cheap low quality ingredients the food usually tastes like crap. For example – try the bargain sausages from Aldi!

When working on a project at school or work the amount of effort, love, dedication and passion you put in it dictates the final outcome. If you expend little effort, no love, and fail to show enthusiasm your outcome will be failure at worst and barely passable at best.

When gardening the appearance, smell and overall impact of a garden is perfected by wisdom, attention, love and caring green thumbs. If you fail to pull out the weeds, consider the colour scheme and envision the desired aroma’s your potentially beautiful garden will ultimately become an eye sore.

When living in a relationship the connection, attraction and interdependence is grown by kindness, thoughtfulness and loads of love. If you neglect your partner or fail to work on making the relationship grow and prosper the future of your relationship may be unfulfilling. (And who wants an unfulfilling relationship! At least with a garden you can close the blinds…with your partner you can’t exactly hide!)

I could go on, but the biggest message that I’ve learned over this holiday period is that what you put in you get out. It’s probably fair to say that we all logically know this…but how often do we look at the areas of our lives and consider whether or not we’re putting in the best that we can?

For example – what about the area of you? What do you feed your mind, body and soul with?

My father-in-law…is a great person that’s covered in not-so-great muck. He feeds his mind with ‘The Daily Mail,’ the 6pm News and programs about war and death. He feeds his mouth with bread, sugar and fat. He sits all day long in front of the TV. And he does nothing to instigate his spiritual side.

The result? Well…he’s always ill, always unhappy and always spouts on about how unfortunate his is. How ‘skint’ he is (on his £2,500/month pension with no bills) and how the world is a miserable place.

Considering that he fills up every element of his body, mind and soul with negative stimulus, there’s no doubt that the result will be undesirable.

I’d like to believe that I feed my mind body and soul with better ‘food’. I avoid newspapers and ‘news’ that focuses on the 1% negative in the world rather than the 99% positive. I read spiritual books. I eat well (but could definitely do better on this one!). I don’t exercise but I’m active… The one major input in my life that’s not-so-good is my ability to get caught up by negative thought streams.

I’ll be in a perfectly good mood and then ½ hour later I’ll notice that for ten or twenty minutes I’ve been having an argument with someone telling them to take a short walk off a long pier. Or I’ll roll a problem around my head over and over completely focusing on who I can blame rather than considering a solution.

It really aggravates me when I get lost in time and spend that time feeding my mind, body and soul with crap. However…at least I recognise that it’s happening. The more aware I can become of these thoughts the better I’ll be able to direct them down a more positive path.

So…what are you feeding into your mind, body and soul? If you’re not sure…look at the results of your reality. If all is good in your world, you need to pat yourself on your back – you’re imputing great stuff. If, however, you’re world isn’t the best it could be take a look at what you’re feeding your mind, body and spirit.

Peace out.

Remember to sign up to receive my articles by email – you can do this on my website on the form on the right-hand side. That way you don’t need to remember to visit my website.

 

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I’ve compiled a list of words that will help your heart to smile

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Words must have some sort of energy attached to them – when I look over a list of positive words I actually feel better.  And when I look at a list like below, my heart actually starts to smile!

So – give it a look-over and if reading the below words help you to enjoy your journey a bit more, copy them into Word, add/remove words accordingly, increase the font size to 22 and print them out.  You can then tape them next to your work area, in your bathroom or carry them around in your folder!

List of positive words that will help your heart to smile

Beautiful, colourful, enjoyment, exceptional, fresh, giggles, gorgeous, heavenly, invigorating, kindness, outstanding, perfect, pure, refreshing, simple, special, superb, terrific, timeless, treasure, valuable, best, caring, comfy, dreamy, endless, exciting, fantastic, forever, friendly, generosity, grace, happiness, inspiring, joy, laughs, luscious, new, positive, quality, rest, spectacular, success, sweet, vivacious, beaming, brilliant, clean, delicious, ecstatic, energy, golden, grand, healthy, luxurious, pleasure, radiant, rewarding, sensational, smiles, stunning, true, warm, amazing, bliss, brimming, confidence, delightful, dynamic, enhancing, enticing, excellent, fascinating, free, fun, glorious, goodness, great, heart-warming, interesting, irresistible, light, lovely, memorable, natural, precious, safe, serene, sparkling, sun, thriving, trust, unique, valued, wealth…

Before I sign off – remember that if you want to get my articles sent straight to your inbox simply enter your email address in the top right-hand box on my website.

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A quick stress relief exercise that works fast!

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With Christmas getting closer and closer I can feel my stress levels increase. Even though I’m not even hosting the big day at my house I still get nervous about various bits and bobs. Will my daughter like her new presents? Will my stuffing come out okay? Will  bad weather cause  issues during our drive down to the South coast? Will I wake up and have yet another pimple appear on my already dull face?

Yikes…I’m spiralling down into the dark abyss.  Let’s put an end to that!

  1. Decide how bad the stress is that you feel – low, medium or high
  2. Place your palms together
  3. Feel the stress that you want to leave your body (feel the physical pain or emotional surges)
  4. Breath in and out through your mouth pushing your stomach out as far as you can (on the inhale) and do this as fast and as deep as you can
  5. While breathing focus on something positive while noticing your heart area (for example, feel the love you felt at the birth of your child)
  6. After 10 to 30 seconds stop and see how much your stress levels have reduced.  Continue to do the exercise until you feel relief.

I’ve been doing this off and on now for a few days and it’s definitely helping me to snap out of my stressful mind-set. Give it a go and let me know if it works for you.

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More about how to remove stress from your life – the inside job…

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I wrote quite a long comment in response to Olga’s great comment from the Post entitled:

Removing the stressors in your life won’t remove stress – it’s an inside job!

Sooooo…for today’s contribution towards making life more enjoyable, please read the comments related to the above article by clicking on the link above.

Also – remember that if you want to get my articles sent straight to your inbox simply enter your email address in the top right-hand box.  One of these days I’m going to figure out the Theory to Everything so be the first to hear it from the horses mouth.  Hehehehe…

 

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Have you noticed that people are becoming kinder?

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This morning a girlfriend and I were driving out of a difficult intersection during rush hour traffic and a White-Van-Man not only let out the car in front of us but he let us through too.  The White-Van-Man traditionally tries to run you off the road!

Yesterday when I was stuck on the M25 car park a woman in the car next to mine smiled and me – it was 7:15am…no one smiles at that time, let alone stuck in a traffic jam. (Yes…I smiled back!)

Earlier I walked into my bank and not only did I get a prompt resolution to my problem but the guy who helped me gave me a direct phone number to his desk.  I actually felt as if he really cared. It’s the first time in my life that I felt ‘served’ as a bank customer.

Stuff like this seems to be happening all the time now.  Every time I’m on the Tube in London I see people give up their seats to the elderly or help a women with a pushchair up the stairs.  While walking down the road neighbours say hi and strike up a little conversation.

And on a closer level, my friends seem to be getting closer…They seem to be more like family rather than ‘friends.’

My business associates seem to be showing more love.  Talk of stomping out the competition is gone and messages of ‘loving the client’ are plentiful.  Kindness and appreciation for others seems to be blooming in every direction.

Why is this happening…

  • am I looking for kindness and therefore it’s appearing? (When you buy a new car, you seem to notice that everyone has the same car…or when you’re pregnant you seem to notice loads of pregnant women, etc)
  • am I getting back what I give out? (karma?)
  • is all this talk about global unity and social consciousness actually happening?  Are we as a world finally deciding to love each other and connect rather than hate and make war?

I suppose it’s all of the above, but the cool thing is that it’s not just me that feels a change occurring.  The world is changing and all you need to do to experience the change is to do the following:

  • When you’re out and about look for acts of kindness as they are everywhere
  • Be kind to everyone you see, touch or talk to.  Just a smile is an act of kindness!
  • Listen to the people talking about social consciousness, permaculture, global healing/mediation, and so forth.

Giving, noticing, learning about and receiving kindness will help you to enjoy your journey, so…

  • Hold the door open for people
  • Smile at a stranger
  • Appreciate a mother cuddling their child
  • Feel empowered by an elderly couple holding hands
  • Research  local community initiatives (how can we help our communities get even better?)
  • Follow people that are taking a stand to make the world a better place
  • Feel gratitude when someone holds the door for you
  • Smile back when someone smiles at you

And from me to you…I’m sending you a message…here it comes:

“Hey you…thank you so much for reading what I have to say. I appreciate you being in my life and if there is any way I can help you to enjoy your journey more, please let me know. I do care ;) “

Smiles,

Kim

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Removing the stressors in your life won’t remove stress – it’s an inside job!

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Tis the season for stress – eh?  I’ve had several epiphanies this week but one really stands out the most.  Even though I quit my job and have effectively eradicated 95% of the things that previously caused me stress I’m still stressed.

It’s as if new stressors moved in the second the old one’s moved out.  What does that tell me?  That clearly demonstrates that it’s not the outer world causing the problem…it’s my inner world.

Coming to that realisation must be half the battle –surely!

I am the creator of my stress and in order to change the effect it has over me (strained shoulders, shallow breathing, anxiousness, pimples, reduced immune system, headaches, bad attitude…dare I go on?!) I need to change my perception of what is going on in my life.

Rather than feel nervous about driving to a new location tomorrow, I could perceive the trip as an exciting adventure. Instead of wondering how I’m going to make money I might want to wonder what I’ll spend money on.  In place of worrying about my daughter failing to sleep again tonight (teething) I could go with the flow and if she doesn’t sleep, just deal with it. And as for my sore throat and croaky voice – rather than worry that I’m burning out…I could refuse to feel ill and spend my time thinking about how grateful I am to live in such during such an exciting time in the history of Earth.

We have a choice – don’t we? Or perhaps we don’t?

Let’s look at my driving anxiety more closely…what’s causing me to feel nervous about driving to Hook tomorrow? I know the exact route I need to take. I have sat nav. I know there’s ample parking. So what the heck is causing me to feel anxious? I once got lost near the NEC in Birmingham and cried for hours (it was more like 10 minutes) and since then I think I’ve been afraid that I might get lost.  I wonder if that is the source of my anxiety?

Hmmmmm.

I’ve read 3 books this week all about how to reduce stress and/or change outdated beliefs.  If what the authors say is correct, sub consciously I have an outdated belief about driving to new places that is causing me stress – perhaps my Birmingham incident formed a belief such as, “When I drive to new places I might get lost and if I get lost I get scared and cry”.

So…I need to apply one of the techniques and see if I can change that.

<Let me pause to test out one of my new found belief busting techniques>

Okay…I did two techniques – I did two to hedge my bets.   I rated my anxiety a 4 out of 10. It’s not earth-shattering anxiety…but it’s enough to cause me to feel worrisome.

So – how do I feel now?  Surprisingly, I actually don’t feel anxious at all.  Could this be true?

Let me test this out again on my fear/anxiety that my daughter will once again keep me up all night…My rating is a 7 – it’s been over a week of seriously broken sleep. I’m deprived and it’s making me cranky!  I’m so stressed over the thought of her once again keeping us up all night.

<Pause to do my newly learned stress reduction techniques>

Well, well, well.  I feel lighter, my shoulders don’t feel strained and I can actually say that if my daughter doesn’t sleep then that’s okay.  The emotional charge associated with the future event of sleep deprivation seems to have been removed.  If nothing else, it’s way lower than a 7!

Hmmmmm.

Before I tell you about the techniques I’ve used I’m going to do this for a few more days and determine if it’s really working.

We can all live in hope!

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