Lost your key and you need to go out!

A work colleague takes offence at something you say!

An event you were really looking forward to is cancelled at the last minute!

Your best friend has promised to do something for you and hasn’t!

You were going to a picnic in the park and it is absolutely chucking it down!

Your flight is delayed by 4 hours!

The meal you have spent ages cooking is burning!

Stuck in a traffic jam and you are going to be late!

 

How you react to and process these everyday real and possible events is key to maintaining your mental and physical health and wellbeing. All of these situations are unpredictable and unexpected experiences which for the most part are outside of your control (except perhaps for the burnt meal – arguably!).

 

If you activate your stress response in relation to when things go wrong you will find that you are less able to deal with them in a helpful way.  The thinking styles you employ play a big part in this response, should you take the negative, catastrophic and therefore the dramatic route you will prolong the effect of the incident, even going as far creating an unnecessarily traumatic result.

 

Your stress response although it seems an automatic process is directly created by the initial thoughts you are thinking. It is vital that you learn how to interrupt this process thinking and acting in a more helpful and positive way.

People who have a fixed mindset, especially the negative mindset are more likely to always react and think in the same unhelpful way. If you have a growth mindset you are likely to be more able to brush off the unpredictable everyday event and focus on something else rather than dwelling and brooding upon what has just happened.

 

 

Of course unpredictability is a fact of life and we cannot always be totally prepared for what is around the corner and indeed some of those events are much more life changing, life threatening or life limiting. Even if you do experience for example the death of a loved one or a life threatening illness you can learn how to lessen or minimise the effect of this by managing your thinking and emotions more effectively.

 

We are human beings and are equipped with a full range of emotions and it is necessary for us to use these emotions however we must learn how to be resilient and bounce back from upset or trauma in order for us to live healthy, happy and successful lives.

 

For more information on how to create an easier and more rewarding life for yourself please see www.thrivewithpat.com Call or email for a free initial chat.  07984177527 pat.harland@btconnect.com