Spring Up, Spring Out, Spring Onward!!

Spring. New beginnings. New life. New adventures.

New challenges. New worries. New problems. New Fears. New misery.............

I don't want to be preachy. There's loads of that on the internet, tv, radio, magazines etc etc. I could quote several cute and well-known inspirational quotes and sayings: "Your altitude determines your attitude". "I have a dream.....". "Never never never never never give up........." "Turn that frown upsidedown"

 "When Life serves you lemons, make lemonade".

You catch my drift.

I used to allow myself to always get caught up in the little things. Someone would cut me off on the highway and I would arrive at work all fired up and peeved at ......................at what???  A person who I will never meet or likely cross paths with again??? For all I know they were rushing off to a medical emergency. Or they were distracted with worry about some personal tragedy.  Yet, here I was, peeved with a person I "made up" in my own mind. Some son-of-a-bleepy-bleep.  Really???

Now I realize how incredibly dumb and pointless it is to allow such meaningless events shape how the rest of my day/week will go.

Lets further this a bit more.

What about events that are not so "meaningless"? Like say for example, you find yourself suddenly unemployed, out of work, without a job. Probably your first reaction would be anger, shock, dismay, extreme worry, frustration and confusion. What are you going to do now?

Your whole world is now spinning out of control, no job!?! No money!!! Can't pay my bills, can't get that new dress I saw yesterday, can't take the family to dinner and a movie, can't book a vacation to Disneyland!!!! OMG!!! The world has ended!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

really?

Once you have recovered from the initial shock of the new challenge of being unemployed, the next step is to carry on. I mean, what other choice do you have? You carry on OR you can jump off a bridge.  Now I am certainly NOT recommending the latter, I merely want to demonstrate that WORRY/FEAR/ANGER/FRUSTRATION are ALL POINTLESS!!!!!!!

Does worry, fear, anger, or frustration solve your problems?

Do they make you feel better?

Do they make others feel better?

Do they help you sleep at night?

Do they assist in your appetite?

Do they help any existing medical conditions you have?

NO, Nada...........Negatory!!!

THEN STOP IT!!

  

I have decided to "just stop it". It's a work in progress. I am not perfect at it. My first reaction to new challenges or roadblocks is still often fear. BUT I don't hold onto the fear. Once I've acknowledged it, I let it go. I acknowledge I have a problem then I work towards managing the "problem".

Since I've been doing this, I sleep much better. My overall mood is happier. I have alot of challenges to work through. Some of them seem insurmountable. But rather than allow myself to wallow in the depths of my own manufactured self-misery, I choose instead to take each day as it unfolds. Sure, I make plans, and have a list of things I'd "like" to do that day. But I also practice flexibility. When things don't pan out exactly as I imagined I adjust to the new scenario and keep moving on.

Sometimes, life can really suck. But it can only affect you, if you let it. You have control over how you choose to see and feel about the events surrounding and enveloping your life. You can jump up and down and scream and yell and get depressed and miserable about having to fix your car....Again!!! Or, you can just find a way to get it done.

simple