054: How's Your Calm These Days (Or Dare I Ask)?

Stress just hits different on occasion.

A circumstance out of your control, the current culture climate (I'm looking at you election year), or any number of physical and emotional ambushes that seemingly lurk around the corner each day.

Kinda harshes-your-mellow...am I right!?

You've heard the well-intentioned though cliche'd perspective - "It's calm in the eye of the storm..." (reality check: it's still a storm).

So...what to do? (warning: more incoming cliches')

Is it time to "circle-the-wagons" and "baton-down-the-hatches??!!"

The emotional roller-coaster you find yourself on can cause you to throw your hands overhead and let out a joyous scream, clutch-your-pearls with cathartic angst, or bury your head in the sand and hope it all goes away.

Why not choose to use your calming "superpowers" and stand toe-to-toe with whatever is harshing-your-mellow these days?

Nothing can threaten your calm or steal your peace without your permission.

• Coping is a practical process you can access in the moment
• Expressing your angst and frustration provides needed release
• Influencing your environment gives you leverage

Develop coping mechanisms that restore your calm

History can (and often does) repeat itself.

Telling yourself - "we've been here before..." - can give you a brief moment to catch your breath.

A breath-catching moment might give you just enough pause to increase your grip on staying calm.

If you're in your second-half era of life you've likely been around the block enough times to know that history repeats itself routinely.

This level of knowledge and experience gives you power that's essential to coping when things get a bit dicey.

Essentially, it's a matter of recalling what worked or works and what didn't or doesn't?

History is a superb teacher...if you're an informed and aware student.

• Read the signs
• Know what to look for
• Respond don't react

Control your emotions through cathartic expression

Emotions have the run-of-the-house when chaos reigns...or threatens.

Emotional control becomes all the more essential when your calm is under attack.

Think about it: when your mind races who or what typically wins that contest?

Let that question bring you back to the center-line emotionally.

And while you're on the way back to a calm place you have full permission to express yourself.

It might seem counter intuitive to exercise emotional control while allowing yourself a cathartic moment (or three).

But part of the journey to calm is actually being in-touch with your emotions.

If you don't release the pressure you’ll eventually explode!

Calm can be restored when the emotional storm is allowed to pass.

• Give yourself room to roam around your current emotional state.
• Talk yourself off the ledge by honestly assessing your situation.
• Call it what it is while exercising your right to have an opinion or point of view about whatever is threatening your calm.

Be a catalyst that shifts the mood in your environment

You've probably discovered that you can't change someone whose mind is firmly made up (don't be that person as you age - have a flexible mindset)!

But...

You can change yourself - starting with your own mood-of-the-moment.

And when you do - you might find that your environment (including those in it) begins to shift a bit.

• Be a catalyst for change instead of keeper of the status-quo.
• Be solution-focused instead of a problem-magnifier.
• Be faith-filled instead of fault-finding.

I think you agree.

We can all use some coping (eh-hem..."election year"), cathartic, catalytic energy these days or any day for that matter.

The "storm" WILL pass so remain calm in your "power" because nothing can harsh-your-mellow that you don't give permission to do so

• Cope as you choose
• Express yourself
• Leverage your influence

Press on...

Eddie