An opportunity to learn
Take a moment to reflect on the quote below and consider how you deal with challenges during the day:
“You can’t calm the storm. Stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.”
Your day has started and one challenge after another seems to choke the life out of you. How do you keep a positive attitude? How do you continue to live with integrity? It will be hard. Some days it will feel almost impossible. But if you develop tools to help you in these moments of adversity, you will continue to live a life of integrity. What tools do you need?
It all depends on what struggles you face.
Do you struggle with patience?
Calm Yourself with Sunshine for the Soul: Practice thinking before you speak. Being able to identify the moment or trigger that causes you to react. Self-talk - sometimes you just need to talk through the situation.
Do you struggle with sarcasm?
Calm Yourself with Sunshine for the Soul: Identify when/where you use sarcasm. Imagine that every time you use sarcasm it is being recorded. Would you be ok with the entire world hearing what you said? Was that the appropriate time and place?
Do you struggle with fear?
Calm Yourself with Sunshine for the Soul: Do you know what makes you afraid? Try to flip moments of fear into moments of gratitude. Let’s say you have to talk in front of your peers. You are terrified. Instead, think...I am thankful I have the opportunity to share my opinion and that others want to listen.
Do you struggle with voicing your opinion?
Calm Yourself with Sunshine for the Soul: What if your opinion could change someone’s mind/actions? When you hold back, you will never know the positive outcome you missed out on. My Great Aunt Marie taught me that regretting action is much easier than regretting inaction.
Do you struggle with confidence?
Calm Yourself with Sunshine for the Soul: First and foremost, stop negative thinking. Identify why you feel that way. Use self-talk to overcome the negative thinking. Replace with positive self-talk. Are you trying to live up to someone else’s expectations of you? If yes, you need to learn who you are, what you believe, and what you value. Then, shape your life around your vision for yourself, not someone else's vision of you. The biggest barrier to feeling confident is constant comparisons. Stop comparing yourself to others. You are unique for a reason. How boring would this world be if everyone was alike.
When you decide to identify a struggle, and then choose to make necessary changes, you are choosing a growth mindset. This type of mindset allows you to face any challenge as an opportunity for growth. An opportunity to learn.
