47. Surf or Suffer?
The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. - William James
Huge waves have long been used as metaphors to describe mounting stress - a climbing, powerful, unstoppable force that then smashes us onto the rocks. 🌊
Stress CAN wash us ashore in a heap, it can also be harnessed to give us the performance we never imagined.
Some people when faced with a wave of stress actually seem to function better. They THRIVE.
Some stress is good for you. Let's discuss how stress and its close cousin anxiety can be turned around and use them to your advantage.
Give some people a wave and they'll wash up on the rocks. They suffer.😢
THREAT RESPONSE
Give the same wave to someone else and they'll ride it for the best time of their life. They surf. 🏄
CHALLENGE-RESPONSE
Our brains and bodies actually behave differently in each case.
The threat response is encountered more frequently. It's your ancient brain meeting today's world. It's a recipe for stress.
What’s your stress habit?
🌊🌊Think of that wave bearing down on you - crisis at work. You're faced with 2 choices
FEAR RESPONSE
Default stress response. It is a habit, a pattern of thinking that kicks in at the first sign of trouble.
If you have a tendency toward a threat response your first job is to learn how to interrupt this default mode so that you can alternatively choose a challenge-response!
2. CHALLENGE-RESPONSE
Change your response. Innercise - 4 steps Pause, Take 6. Observe your body, thoughts, and feelings. Name what you’re experiencing and kindly say “I release you.”
Dr. Daniel Frieland MD
Using this simple exercise (Innercise) you gain more control over your subconscious reactions and calm yourself. Once you do that you can then change your response.
Just doing this changes your brain!!! Rather than being swept away by the current of emotions, you can ride the wave. 🏄🏄🏄🏄
What does Stop the Mind Screw Say About Threat and Challenge-Response?
Step 4 in Stop the Mind Screw Process is to pay attention to our THOUGHT HABITS. Only then can we truly understand where these responses come from and change the habit response from THREAT to CHALLENGE.
The total premise of STMS is to find flow or the place where challenge meets skill. You must control your mind to do this and understand that your response to what is there is what matters - not the trigger!
What does Reality Transurfing say about these responses?
Reality Transurfring is about riding the wave of success. To do that you must identify how you look at reality. Is that wave something to be feared and to suffer? Or is it something to harness and ride to another level of reality where challenge meets skill and finding flow.
In Review
There are 2 responses to stress CHALLENGE or THREAT.
You can control and change your response by becoming aware.
In Reality Transurfing and Stop the Mind Screw we discuss solutions to help you respond differently and "better" to stress over time.
Therefore you ride the wave to success instead of letting that wave crash you into the rocks.
