Moving stress and frustrations into a positive attitude

Does one of these situations apply to you right now?

  • Is there a major change going on at work? Does this change cause you some amount of stress? If so, what is the stressor and why is it stressing you out?
  • Is your life or career in transition? Does this bring about stress or frustration related to any setbacks you encounter? If you are feeling something negative, how can you turn it around to help you grow?
  • Do people at your job cause stress because they are not doing what you expect of them? Does this often frustrate you? If so, why does it affect you and what can you do about it?

If you are experiencing stress or frustration related to any of these situations, then consider an exercise you might use to turn the negative feelings into a more positive attitude. To do this, try the following steps:

  1. Write down the negative situation that is stressing or frustrating you.
  2. Write down why the situation affects you in that way.
  3. Using step 2 as a resource, rewrite step one in a way that could be a positive experience.
  4. When you begin to feel like step 1 is irritating you again, read the results of step 3 to yourself. Repeat this step each time until your attitude or the situation has changed.

If you have tried a stress reduction exercise similar to the above or found another alternative that works, please let us know about your experience. Sharing with yourself on paper will help your personal growth. Sharing with others on this blog will contribute to the growth of others.

1 comment:

Flowchainsensei said...

Nice post.

Makes me recall the quote "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade". But I'm also feeling a little uneasy.

Non-violent Communication (Rosenberg) offers an alternative to seeking the positive in a situation: seek to understand the feelings and then meet the need of the folks involved - including those in some way causing the stress.

- Bob