We all know the medical consequences of stress by now, right? Heart disease, inefficient immunity leading to more colds & bugs (perhaps even cancer), obesity, etc. Let's face it, stress plays a role in nearly every known chronic or degenerative condition.
But to a stressed-out person, those facts mean very little. It's the truth! And there's a very simple reason. The potential consequences, if they should occur, will show up in the future. Where the stress is here NOW. To a stressed-out person, NOW is much more relevant than something that might happen in ten years. Or fifteen. Or maybe never (if I repent from my stress-laden lifestyle after this crisis has passed).
So let's think about this differently. How does stress affect your quality of life today? And how might your quality of life be measurably better tomorrow if you got a handle on that stress tonight?
Most of us, under normal circumstances, would choose a healthier option over an obviously less healthy one. It's simply a state of mind.
Healthy, simply put, is a making a choice that is in your own best interests and harms nobody else.
Think about what would have to be going on in your life for you to choose a less-than-healthy option when a healthier one is available. The number one cause is stress.
Example #1: You plan a nice healthy dinner for the family after work tonight. After leaving the office, so goes your vision, you'll stop by the market and pick up some fresh veggies and a nice package of chicken for a stir-fry. Cook it up and serve over rice. Voila, healthy.
Reality check #1: After a crazed day, you leave the office an hour later than planned. There went your shopping and cooking time. There went your energy. Instead of following your vision, you phone for pizza from the speed-dial on your cell phone and pick up a large pepperoni and mushroom as you whiz by the closest outlet to your home.
Example #2: You plan to spend the evening doing some market research for your new business idea after the kids go to bed. That's the first step you read about in the business plan builder you found ... aahh, was that a month ago already? Geez. Anyway, so your vision goes, you'll be doing that research tonight.
Reality check #2: Well, the kids' band concert was tonight. Too bad nobody put it on the calendar. Also, your youngest needs 18 healthy snacks for school tomorrow and the kids' gym clothes really must get washed. The dog threw up on the carpet. And your mother-in-law is coming for dinner tomorrow (better clean up the kitchen). Instead of following your vision, you deal with the obvious chaos and then collapse in a heap on the couch.
Example #3: Tonight, you'll call mom. Yep, haven't checked in with her in a few days ... well, to be honest it's been at least a month. Yep, better call mom. Gonna do it tonight. That's the vision.
Reality check #3: Life intervenes; something happens; once again, you don't have the energy to make that call. Or by the time you get everything else handled, it's too late already.
Here's the take-home point I want you to get.
What's between you and the healthier choice? Most people would probably say it's a lack of will-power. "If I could just make myself do that one more thing," so the myth goes, "then everything would be ok."
And here's the news: Lack of will-power is not the problem. Nope. Not at all. All these people are will-powered out already! Exhausted! Overdrawn! Over-extended!
And here's the solution: Get a handle on the stress that leaves you too pooped to do the life you'd like to be doing. That you know you'd rather be doing. That would have you feel good.
How? Stop. Breathe. Ask a great question. Get a simple answer. Follow-through.
Need some help? If you've already got Transform Stress Into Power, then perhaps you're ready for Intuitive Brainstorming.
Elizabeth Eckert can help you explore how simple everyday choices create health — or undermine even the best of intentions. With a background that ranges from energy medicine to structural bodywork to developmental psychology, this "Stick-To-It Coach" has the experience to support you in creating the healthiest possible expression of — you!
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