So it was a no good, terrible, horrible, very bad day. It started when my two dogs had an accident on my carpet at 6:00am. Yep, I woke up to a pretty horrific smell 🙁 But wait, I forgot to mention that 2 days before, I fell while doing a dance leap (dancer at heart) and kaboom, broke my wrist. Ouch. Now, in a waterproof cast, I struggled to clean up a stinky mess with one “left” hand–no pun intended.
That didn’t go well so I tried to reach a professional carpet cleaner to help out. He couldn’t arrive until late that afternoon. Soiled carpet. Ugh. I am ready for some stress relieving about now! In the meantime, my dishwasher went berserk and decided to spray out soapy water on my kitchen wood floor…another mess to clean. A few hours later while checking my email I noticed that my credit card bill was not paid on time! What? I always pay BEFORE the due date…now what?
So I thought I had better make a quick run to the bank to determine why my credit card statement wasn’t paid on time and of course, on the way there, I got a flat tire. Oh..just great! Now I was really getting upset. What in the world did I do to deserve a day like THAT?
Well, we all have days like that at one time or another, and…We all DO it at one time or another. We struggle. We struggle with relationships, money, time, business/work, life events, and even our own selves. Why do we? Why do we struggle?
I struggled with just making it through that day. Now, I know there wasn’t anything catastrophic or devastating happening, but the snowball of one annoyance after the next in a period of less than 8 hours set me over the edge. My day was crashing in on me. Yes, I definitely struggled.
From my own spiritual research, we struggle when we fight uncertainty. We LOVE certainty, predictability, the comfort of knowing that things will happen according to OUR plan. But when they don’t, ahhh, that when the struggle ignites. Life is like that. Unpredictable. (One solid reason why not one seer, scientist or saavy analyst can accurately predict the stock market and its fluctuations.)
So, if we have to get used to the unplanned bumps in our journey, the unpredictability in our life, the ebbs and flows of events, how do we move through it out without the struggle? And, more importantly, all of that personal struggle causes stress. And long term stress causes illness and disease. So are we meant to struggle forever? Are we doomed?
No and no. Here’s the “bright light”. Struggle is a choice. Struggle is your physical, mental and emotional reaction to a situation you really want to control, but simply can’t. The more you try, the more you struggle. Life events randomly happen. You can’t control them, but you can choose HOW you respond to them. Thats the difference. Instead of viewing circumstances as “happening to you” as you are living in that very moment they are occurring, take a step back and really understand that you are co creating every single event. Sometimes you just need to step back and realize that its ONLY life happening. Yep, just life. Not everything goes according to YOUR plan.
Once you realize that you really can “take a deep breath” and “let it go”, everything seems to become less urgent, less demanding, less stressful. And when you lessen the stress, you elevate your wellness! Another way to mitigate the struggle is to turn the situation upside down and inside out. Think of what you can learn from what is happening instead of what pain, discomfort and distress you are feeling from it. No one is perfect , but the magic happens when you begin to truly take life in stride. .when you understand that “sweating the small stuff” won’t be a gateway to longevity to enjoy the big stuff.
So the next time you find yourself having a no good, terrible, horrible, very bad day, remind yourself that YOU have the power to switch it up. To look on the bright side. To find even a tad of humor in your situation. Remember, you have total control over the Stress of Struggle. Choose wisely for your health’s sake!
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