Whats the adage? What doesnt kill us makes us stronger? Yes. Thats the one. It is great to have a clean slate and a fresh start, but often times, the new school year is marked by that horrible five letter word - CHANGE - which can be incredibly stressful, to say the least. Our perception of the change can create eustress, which is good ☺, or distress, which is bad ☹. The key factor? Perception. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to dwell on the downside, find the flaws, and perseverate on aspects of our lives over which we have no control. When this happens, we end up being our own worst enemy and our thoughts only drive us to greater degrees of distress. Ah, but that is not the end of the story. Behavior occurs in a relationship, so our own distress can breed … in a bad way. Our negative thoughts impact our behaviors and our negative behaviors create distress in the people around us. This makes for a very sad working environment and it can definitely make for a very long school year. My suggestion? Make a conscious choice not to be the black cloud, the half-full glass, or the “yeah, but…” person at work or home. Instead, focus on those aspects of your life for which you are thankful. I believe it can always be worse. I am healthy. My family is healthy. I have a job, and there are aspects of it I really love. Hopefully, to some degree, you can relate. So as we start this school year, I leave you with a great quote from Project Wisdom. Of course, I adapted it just a bit... Make it a great year. Or not. In many ways, I believe the choice is ours to make.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 22:00:00 +0000