A lesson from nature when dealing with stress

A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until you put her in hot water. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

The dictionary describes stress as a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life. Something that causes strong feelings of anxiety, pressure and overwhelm.

We all experience stress. If we have breath in us, we will always be working through something, and working towards something. No matter what, we always get to choose how we will respond to situations and problems that come up. Will it be calm, focused and optimistic? Or will be worried, anxious and afraid? One choice is healthy for our body and life. The other is toxic. Here is the thing. Not all stress is bad. We need just the right amount of tension and pressure to move us forward, to grow, change and strengthen.

We get into trouble when we don’t:

• Release our stress with exercise
• Create balance in our life
• Meditate
• Do things we love to do that feeds our spirit and nourishes our soul

If you are in a period of time when the stresses of life seem over bearing, take a lesson from nature. I read a story of a butterfly perched on a windowsill struggling to break free from it’s cocoon. A person observing and watching it’s struggle decided to jump in and help. He gently cut the butterflies cocoon open. But when the butterfly emerged it was unable to fly because what was intended as help acutally prevented it from strengthening it’s wings to prepare for flight.

So, I want to encourage you today, instead of asking “why is this happening? Why do I have to deal with all of this?” Ask yourself, “What can I learn from this? and “what can I do right now that will move me forward in a positive, healthy direction?
It’s never to late to move forward in a healthy, positive direction. Never.

The key is to live on purpose in thought, attitude and action. And get really good at living one day at a time. Worry less, and trust more. Stress less and enjoy, laugh and love more.

So, remember, we have only one day at a time to live, so live this day consciously and deliberately and choose well!