Overcoming Stress and Worry

Why do we allow stress and worry to get in the way of finding happiness in our life? Why are we so worried about everything that is happening around us, to the detriment of our own well being? In order to find true happiness, we have to use various tools and strategies to temper our distractive emotions in order to live our life from the inside out, and not from the outside in.

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You can read a full transcript of the video below. Until next time, many blessings!
Seth

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Seth David Chernoff
Author, Manual For Living – REALITY
Author, Manual For Living – CONNECTION
www.SethChernoff.com

Overcoming Stress and Worry – VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Hi, this is Seth David Chernoff, award-winning author of the Manual for Living.

Today, I’d like to talk to you about stress. Stress, and how stress stands in a way of where you want to be in your life. You see, if we all naturally want to be happy and fulfilled in our lives, in our relationships, in our work life, we have to understand the power that stress has over us, and how it actually stands in the way of our own happiness. But you see, we’re each going to face obstacles in our life, that’s just part of what life is all about. We’re all going to face challenges, we all have a whole litany of things that we have to do, and we’re all going to be worried from time to time. But you see we have to manage that worry and manage that stress, or it absolutely will stand in the way of where we want to be in our life.

Now, what is stress look like? What is it feel like? Well, it looks kind of like your shoulders are up a little high, your face tense, in your eyes and hands… What is lack of stress look like? It looks like release. It looks like your shoulders are relaxed, like your breathing…not those short breathes, but those deep fulfilling breathes. It looks like your face is relaxed. It looks likes you have intention about what you’re doing in life. You’re not hurried, you’re not being reactive to your life, and in fact you’re just being present to what the world has to offer.

Now, let’s talk about stress. Again, we’re all going to face challenges in our life but we tend to worry about things that we can’t control. So, let’s go through what we can control. Number 1 is who we choose to be in any given moment…basically, who we’re being. Number 2 are the actions that we take. So, based on who we’re being, what are we going to say, what are we going to do, how we’re going to act in our life. Now, beyond those things, there’s nothing we can control. Again, we only control who we’re being and the actions that we’re taking. Yet we worry about everything. We worry about our kids, our boss, our co-workers, our spouse, our house. We worry about everything. Yet, we have no control over those things.

We can influence, we can share, we can love, we can give, but we have no direct impact over anything outside of our self. So, why do we worry? Because we get attached to outcome. We want things to look a certain way, we want them to feel a certain way. And by doing that, we think we’re going to feel better about ourselves. That if things outside of our self end up in a certain way, then we will feel better on the inside. But that’s not how it works. Life is lived from the inside out. Our only ability to impact life our outside life is from the inside out. It’s from who we’re choosing to be.

So, our ability to release stress, to release worry is to let go of our task being to outcome. Let go of how we think the world has to look. Let go of how we think our boss has to treat us, or how our spouse has to treat us. Just focus on who you’re being. If you’ve ever been in the forest, you know that the big healthy trees…they sway with the wind, they relax and the wind just sways them naturally. The sick trees, the dead trees, they’re rigid, and eventually when the wind blows, they break. Well, in our life, we have to be fluid. We have to be willing to let go of our attachment to the way life looks and just allow the fluidity of life to takeover, because life’s going to work out exactly the way it supposed to. So, focus on yourself, on who you’re being, and the actions that you’re taking.

Today, I put you in the Caribbean, that’s my image back here. You might tell me… “Seth, the Caribbean, that’s totally unrealistic. I’m stuck in my life, in my minivan with the kids screaming, and I’m rushing off to soccer practice, and to work.” Yes, well this is your inner vacation. This is where you go in the inside. That’s where I go. When I need a moment of peace, because again we all feel stress from time to time, this is where you go. But you find the place that’s within you, this is the place that I go to find peace, to find relaxation.

Now I invite you, just to focus on your inner self. When you feel stress…breathe. When you feel worry taking over…relax, relax your face muscles, relax your shoulders, relax your body. It’s only from that place that you can think clearly. And thinking clearly is what you need to connect with your intuition, to listen to your truth, and to make better decisions.

I hope you have found this video about stress helpful on your life. Until next time…many blessings!