This Spring was pretty wild in my opinion. All of a sudden there was much more activity and so many things to “get back into fully” like entertaining, visiting, working more, going out more and planning for the future. Of course this is all wonderful as we are so fortunate to live in our neighbourhood which is a safe and pleasant place. Canada Day always reminds me of what a great life we have here in Canada.
As exciting as it is when the calendar gets full there has also been a downside for me where my stress level goes up. Stress is part of life but when it morphs into anxiety, it can take away from the pleasure of the activities for myself and others. I’ve learned to manage anxiety pretty well but once in a while it gets to me.
Through my work with our staging and organizing clients, plus our training and experience in the field I have learned that the problem is really about trying to do it all. “HAVE A GOOD TIME – ALL THE TIME! “(Yes, that is a quote from Spinal Tap – my favourite movie) is not possible and actually makes life not so good – if you let it.
I like analogies so here goes…I feel like this is the same problem as we all have organizing the dreaded junk drawer. In this limited yet important space – what do I choose to occupy this valuable little drawer? What do I need to let go of temporarily or do away with entirely? This “I Choose Mindset” is something that helps me feel in control and stay positive about my schedule. Instead of thinking “Life’s too busy right now- I’ll never have time to do all of the things I need to do!” I can reframe the situation to be softer, kinder and gracious. This simple act of changing a thought is the basis for how we can improve things for ourselves. Editing this junk drawer is a powerful image that we can access to take control of many unpleasant and difficult tasks. It is a great skill to be able to notice what is not working. Invest a bit of time to think about what is really happening and why. Then the key component to this process happens where we intentionally make the decision to choose what goes in this valuable small space. It only can fit so much so let’s only put things that serve us well and have an important purpose and be done with it.
Remembering to do this is another challenge. We all have so much coming at us all of the time and developing habits that help us feel better and appreciate life more is something that takes a bit of time and effort. Recently I saw an interesting Instagram post by an entrepreneur that I follow named Derrick Chew and @investmenttips. It is titled “How to Instantly Feel Better” and I love it because of its Simplicity and also that it reminds us that if we don’t like how things are going – we can do something about it!
How To Instantly Feel Better – follows an If this is happening: – then try this instead
Overthinking: – Write
Tired: – Nap
Anxious: – Meditate
Sad: – Exercise
Stressed: – Go for a Walk
Angry: – Listen to Music
Lazy: – Reduce Screen Time
Burned Out: – Read
We hope that you can find a few ways here to help to make your summer a good one and be able to choose some relaxing, enjoyable activities.