August 26, 2024

Special Circumstance Stress

20 minutes

Listen in for ways to modify your thinking in times of high stress.

Click here for the pdf titled "Thoughts to Think" Heidi promised to give you.

Take Aways
-For this podcast, a special circumstance is anything that takes us out of our normal routines and life practices
-Examples include: having a baby, moving to a new home, losing your job, moving in with your parents/in-laws/friends.
-In and of itself the circumstance is not positive or negative, but the thoughts we have about it can potentially add a lot of stress.
-Example: Heidi recently moved and lots of boxes still need to be unpacked. Normally she could tell herself, "Just buckle down for ten minutes and this room will be cleaned up." But because of her special circumstance of recently moving in and still having boxes everywhere, that thought won't help her. Instead she thinks, "Let's do ten minutes; it will make a difference," and she created a chart where she has the total number of boxes to be unpacked written down and she crosses off a number each time she unloads a box.
-When you notice thoughts like, "Why isn't it working? It worked before." Shift to: It is not working now. What do I think will work this time?
-Listen to your own wisdom. It can be so simple. It can just come to you. Take it and run with it.
-Another helpful thought when feeling confused or stuck about a particular thing or decision: What if it were easy?
-When wanting everything to be done right now...Ask yourself, "What really needs to be right now?" This is helpful for when you feel overwhelmed.
-We don't want to not acknowledge our feelings. We also don't just want to spin in confusion, indecision, or sadness for too long.
-You can channel your inner _____ (insert person's name here) when you're struggling to do or be something that's hard for you but you think and witness another person do it so well.