to sign up to receive your free motivational newsletter, mention "newsletter" in the contact box - . Contact for free newsletter !!! Newsletter - September 2006 A Fun, Decisive Way to Beat Stress I grew up in upstate New York, in a small town, near farm country. On occasion when we would go for a ride in a certain direction, we would pass these fields. Huge barns, tractors, cows grazing, corn growing … this was indeed farm country. But what struck me most was the stone walls that marked off the great plots of land between farms. These farms were in a town … even smaller than where I grew up… and it was appropriately called “Stone Arabia”. Stone Arabia was part of the early settling of the colonies. The early farmers that settled these lands were from the Old World … Netherlands, Germany, England … that came in as early as the 1600s. Another memorable part of the drive through this part of the country was the occasional sign that might say “George Washington slept here”. That’s right, this was right in the middle of American history. Right in the cradle of the American Dream. The early farmers had so much to overcome. They decided to come to the New World, knowing harsh weather, dangerous wars, and more would be ahead of them. They endured a great deal for their dream of a new life. The name “Stone Arabia” came from the fact that the land was full of stones. These early farmers … full of dreams for a new life … had to begin by removing all sorts of stones from the land before they could sow and reap the benefits of the land. They had to dig up the stones to get to the fertile, productive land. What did they do with the stones? They used the stones to build strong structures that still stand today! The houses, churches, forts, schools, and walls that stand today had such strong foundations. The pioneers were forced to take the bad (stones in the fields) and turn them into something good. Each day, we get up and deal with all sorts of “stones” in our own field of dreams. We work to provide a life for our family … but what do we often face? The “stones” of work stress … whether the danger of office wars or just the harsh challenge of too much to do and not enough time to do it. Our family life can be just as challenging with bills, kids schedules, homework, a garage door opener that doesn’t work, or conflict with a neighbor over a fence. The “stones” of daily life can overwhelm and stress us beyond our point to cope. The “stones” of daily life can make us feel on a deeper level like our life’s dreams just won’t work out. Just as these farmers succeeded in building their dreams, we can remove the “stones” of life to create our own little field of dreams. These structures they built have lasted hundreds of years. We, too, can strengthen up part of our lives that need it. And we can have fun doing it! Here are six fun, decisive ways to deal with the stress of daily life: 1. Decide to be a pioneer! Decide to be a decider! What is your “dream”? In each area of life, give yourself a “vision” of what you expect and want. What kind of a person do you want to be? What kind of a family member or spouse do you want to be? If your “dream” at work is a new position … begin planting the seeds of your plans today! Just like the early settlers decided to take a big step into the New World … take a step into your “new world” of your dreams. And then “decide” that you are committed to removing any stones needed to make your field of dreams. Its never too late to dream. Plant and nurture your dreams each and every day with self-encouragement … you can inch closer to that dream with positive “self-talk”! 2. What is the worst that could happen? The farmers that settled Stone Arabia had real dangers. The risks that they took had everything to do with life and death. Making wrong decisions for them had everything to do with ending up starving, sick, or attacked. Let’s put things in perspective … most of our life stress is about smaller issues. Sure we tackle some issues that are indeed life altering and may even be more serious … but most of our stress is about smaller things. Dale Carnegie’s asked this great question in his excellent book, “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living”. “What is the worst that could happen?” Many of the issues that stress us, simply are not as significant as we fear. Carnegie provides countless examples of people who lost jobs, had failed businesses, and more. Guess what? These people recovered. So, in our daily lives … the smaller stones are easy to set aside. What if we buy that lawn mower instead of this one? Likely not as much as we fear. What if we buy a Buick instead of a Chevy? What if I make a wrong recommendation at work? Perhaps not as much as we fear. 3. Remove stones by size. The churches, homes, and walls in Stone Arabia had an assortment of shapes and sizes. Some of the stones were not small by any standard! But you know what? Most of them were the size that were readily moved by a single person. Likewise, many of the problems we face each day are smaller in nature than we realize. Being a pioneer and decider means just that! Decide! I’ll take that assignment! I want a chicken sandwich! Let’s do that on Saturday morning. Remove the clutter of daily life by deciding the small stuff promptly and with the style of a decider! Removing the clutter of smaller stones leaves us the time and energy to focus on the larger stones. What did the farmers do with the big massive stones? They often sought help of other farmers … and they often broke the stones down into smaller, easier to handle pieces. Budget your mental energy according to the size of the stones. Spend small amounts of time deciding the small stuff. 4. Just Do It! Sure these farmers didn’t have a Nike logo on their shirts each day, but how many have you heard that went back to the Old World? Resist the temptation and bad habit of re-thinking and re-visiting and re-doing (and undoing and … and … and …) How many stories have you heard about a farmer that plants seeds … and then the next day, tears up the seeds to re-plant a different crop? Of course not! Then why do we re-visit so many decisions? Develop a new habit of making a decision and sticking with it. Don’t constantly re-visit decisions, especially small ones. Experiment. When you decide to volunteer for that committee, go with it. Plant it, cultivate it. See what grows. If it turns out to be a weed, you’ll just know better next time. But at least let it grow before you dig it up. Cultivate the habit of sticking with a decision and you will begin to reap the benefits of a less stressed life. 5. Do it three days from now. These farmers were all about sowing and reaping. Often time our personal schedules become highly reactive, which only adds to the stress of daily life. We want to go out with a friend, but we have a kids’ basketball game that night. And the same scenario gets played out over and over again. So we put off things and feel like a procrastinator. How do we change this and reap the benefits of doing more of what we want? Start deciding now what you want to do three days from now! When a friend asks you to lunch, say yes! But what happens when you can’t? Pick a specific time three days from now and go to lunch then! If you can’t change today, you can begin to build the future the way you want it to look! Plant the seeds of your next few days in a proactive, willful way and your life will feel more about doing and accomplishing! On Friday I’ll meet with the insurance agent, on Saturday I’ll go to the movies with my spouse …planting the seeds of the good things three days from now … this is how we accomplish and unclutter in life! 6. Sleep on it. Nature works its wonders all day long. At night, the seeds the farmers planted were not sleeping. They were not resting, they were growing. So much of what stresses us out can be solved simply and automatically and we don’t even realize it! When we are faced with stress, we typically toss around the options, the pros and cons. We may even get so focused that it drives us crazy! (figuratively or literally!) But imagine that farmer seeing the seeds pushing up through the soil for the first time. The sun rising above the clouds … the fruits of his labors coming to be! The farmer didn’t understand biology and the workings of cells. For some reason, our subconscious works in ways we don’t fully understand. In the morning’s light often lies the sprouts of solutions and decisions that we should be reaping in order to live a less stressed life. We can beat the stress of daily life and continue toward our dreams. We can be like the pioneers that settled our great land. We can remove the stones of daily life … sow and reap plentiful gains … overcome adversity … eliminate stress … to build the strong foundations of success! Next Month's Newsletter - Winning! |
"And which of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to your life?" Luke 12:25 To all the nautical and nice readers out there … here’s a web site to put you in touch with a couple of great guys that will help you locate the boat of your dreams! Click Here !!! Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” So they removed the stone and the man who had died came forth. Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that You have heard me. “ John 11 |
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