STRESS and DESPERATION are our GREATEST teachers! - RockYourWorld #17

jaynie (75)in #life • 7 years ago (edited)

Some days are diamonds and others are...well... not! And what matters in the end I suppose, is how you handle the latter.

Anybody who has ever owned a business or worked for themselves will know well, the copious amounts of stress that come along with the freedom and flexibility. From my perspective, I would have to say – this is especially the case where I am located in South Africa. The economic state of our country… is, well… “JUNK” – no literally… we have been declared “JUNK STATUS”.

Image Credit: http://www.2oceansvibe.com/2016/05/27/if-were-cut-to-junk-status-its-actually-not-a-bad-thing-this-is-why/

So as you can well imagine, this does NOT make entrepreneurship any easier.

Having been self-employed for practically 17 years now, you can understand why I have days where I literally want to throw my little white flag in the air and cry “surrender” when the mountain slopes I have to clime daily just seem endless!

Whilst my business is stable and constant and has been evaluated by several experts with sound report, it does not change the fact that environmental factors (like our dumbass president) screw it all up for you anyway!

Image Credit: http://www.sapeople.com/2016/04/02/jokes-memes-president-zuma-nkandla-apology-anc/

No, seriously… short of waiting for his term to end - I hope he stands on a REALLY large piece of Lego! Because let’s be honest, is there anything more painful – and the whole world knows he deserves it! Lol

Back to my point…

I have always been an exceptionally resilient individual. I handle stress REAAALLY well! In fact, to be quite frank, I think I deserve a bloody badge of honour for the amount of stress I have endured throughout my life.

Excuse me while I blow my own horn here… but while the awards are busy being handed out – I’ll take another one for dodging bullets, putting fires out, stealing from Peter to feed Paul, and one last one for the sheer ability to manipulate virtually impossible situations into my favour.

Oh, I am sorry… did I not mention that it has just passed month end… possibly THE MOST STRESSFUL FEW DAYS for me … every….MONTH! hahaha! So you can understand where the “passion” is coming from… yes, let’s call it passion, mkay ;)

This is not a post advertising my tush… but it is a fact about my tush… and how it works itself to a standstill every single day, for what sometimes seems like… um, how do I put this… NOTHING! lol!

But, let me just re-focus for a second… to clarify… those are fleeting moments of emotion, which as anybody could and would guess, are fuelled by desperation.

There is however, a greatly positive side to all of the above.

Nothing teaches you life skills, quite like stress and desperation. When you are placed in that position, your mind (well, mine anyway), kicks into “survival mode” and despite seldom seeing the light at the end of the tunnel at the time, I always manage to problem solve my through it until I do in fact get greeted by the light.

It is a wonderfully rewarding feeling – and is also a great source for personal growth.

Although, I think the ratios of delivery are skewed, because if the amount of stress I deal with and have dealt with was relative to the amount of personal growth, I would be some kind of guru or walking prophet by now…

Hey… maybe I am and I don’t even know it yet… haha ;) and maybe if I am lucky… one day I will become a Steemit guru too. Hehe!

Ok, on a serious note –

The reason I am sharing this is to help others that possibly don’t handle stress quite as well as others…

I want to offer a little bit of “peace of mind”. It does not matter what situation you find yourself in! No.. no… it doesn’t! The process to getting yourself out of “said” situation is the same throughout.

Right! Let's do this shall we!! Booyaaa!!

• First and foremost… STOP focusing on all the crap that surrounds the problem… like who knows, what the repercussions are going to be, the anxiety its causing you, etc. etc. etc.

Look DIRECTLY at the problem and NOWHERE else! NOWHERE!!!!

People in general have a handy knack of getting distracted by all the surrounding factors, which in turn only makes the situation they are facing even more intimidating and stressful.

• When you stop and acknowledge the problem, you can start to look at the solutions. Situation dependant, you WILL know what those are. Even if some of them are seemingly “impossible solutions”, write them down… sometimes you might end up with a compilation of solutions which upon reflection, inspires a final one that actually works. Look at it as a sort of “brainstorming” if you will.

• Work your way through those solutions and “play out” each outcome if you had to choose… A, B, C… etc. Which outcome drops your stress levels the most when you think about it? Look at that one. How can you make that one work? – You might not get 100% of what you need from your preferred solution, but you will be further than you were when you started.

• More than anything, remind yourself that worry serves absolutely NO purpose if it is not being constructively directed.

• No matter what, you will go to bed tonight and you will still wake up tomorrow. The sun will still rise and the wheels of life will continue to turn. There is absolutely nothing you can do about that, so get up, take a deep breathe – believe in yourself. Talk to yourself (positively please) and step forward knowing that no matter what the outcome, you will still be standing. It might be in a different place… but standing nonetheless.

Life is an intricate web.

Treat it with respect. Appreciate it – and most importantly remember that every SINGLE challenge that you are faced with is presenting itself so that it can take you one step closer to being the amazing individual that you were born to be…. To fulfill your life’s purpose.

No matter where you stand now… you WILL get to where you are supposed to be. Trust in the process.

Many people complain that they are faced with the same dire situation again and again and again… well, I am of the firm belief that this is the case because they have not yet learnt the life lesson being offered by that experience. When they finally “get it”, that situation will either cease repeating, or they will have tools to handle it efficiently.

In the words of one of my favourite quotes…

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive & well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body totally worn out & screaming WOOHOO what a ride!!

no really... that has got to be the coolest quote ever!!! lol

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