Friday, March 4, 2011

Feeling Pressured? One Simple Step to Regain Your Mojo


Do You Trust Everything will Work Out?
 
Think back over the last three days and ask yourself: 
  • How many times did something happen to make me worry something in my life wouldn't work out?
  • How many times did I respond to that fear by relaxing and letting myself know instead that life always has a way of working out in my favor?

When Life Gets Challenging, Lighten Up

These days, there's certainly lots to worry about. But when life gets more challenging, that's the very time you need to be more nimble and flexible in your thinking. In short, you need to lighten up and change how you think about situations you find troubling.

Do You Feel Pressured or Challenged? It Makes a Difference!

Your view of your situation determines if you'll have limited or more expansive choices for responding to life. The good news is you can change how you think, and therefore open up options for yourself. You're in control of choosing your role in difficult situations, and therefore your response.

When you sink into feeling pressured, fearful or worried about a situation, you downshift into your lower, or reptilian brain, where only low level flight-or-fight responses are available to you--the extremes of fighting and withdrawing--outbursts, yelling, arguing, quitting, ignoring, denying, running away and pulling the covers over your head and never going back. It's not a very empowering or engaging place to come from, and leaves you feeling weak, threatened, out-of-control and unsuccessful.

By switching your view from feeling pressured to feeling challenged, you move up to your higher brain, or cerebral cortex, where conscious, critical thinking is possible.  Now you're in control. It is from this place you are capable of considering calm, clear, focused choices, and listening to your inner wisdom.



Chose the Self-Satisfied Calm of Knowing You Can Handle Life

Give up the adrenaline rush of feeling pressured for the self-satisfied calm of knowing you can handle whatever life throws your way. The next time you feel the angst of your situation, consciously choose to say 'I feel challenged' in place of 'I feel pressured'.

No, things don't always go as you planned. But you do have what it takes to successfully move through life's challenges. So switch it up and regain your Mojo! Look for the challenge and give up the pressure.


"Relax and begin saying, Everything in its perfect time. Everything is unfolding. And I'm enjoying where I am now, in relationship to where I'm going. I'm content where I am, and eager for more."
Abraham

4 comments:

Marilyn Coffron said...

Lovely, Sue. Good read and good advice!

Susan J Meyerott, M.S. said...

Marilyn--
So good to have you visit Lightarted Living. I look forward to connecting with you more!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Wow, Sue! I've never thought about how viewpoint of pressured/challenged shifts one to lower/higher brain. This is a post I need to print out and put on my refrigerator!

Susan J Meyerott, M.S. said...

What's in a word, Jean? Everything!

Sue