Monday Quickie - Why We Need More Supporting Heroes & Less Paper Tigers

Author: Trisha Aure

It seems nowadays there are no safe places for thoughts, comments or posts.  There will always be someone that will have a negative response no matter what the content is.  I was reading a post on LinkedIn about a company that hired their first woman board member.  This is something that should definitely be talked about and celebrated.  But then I started reading the comments, and it was talking about everything this woman was not:
              “That’s great, but it would be better if she wasn’t Caucasian.”
              “How is she going to stand up to her male counterparts?”

Why can’t we see the actual message here instead of seeing everything that it is not?  What would life be if we celebrated what we should instead of tearing down things that don’t align with our personal goals?  We all have different goals, different paths and different stories.  And this is exactly as it should be.  We should be uplifting and supportive of one another, even when we disagree. 

Having a healthy mindset is not the easiest, and I have come to find out, this is an everyday activity.  I’m sure there are many speculations on why our minds are triggered to see the bad rather than the good.  The news, social media, celebrities, and pure gossip are just to name a few. 

I started thinking about this during a conversation I had with a friend of mine about my road rage.  I realized that I get frustrated when someone would cut me off or drive too slow because I would take it personally.  As though the driver saw me and said to himself “I’m going to cut that girl off…. haha.”  My friend put a bit of perspective out there for me and brought up that this person could be driving their hurt kid to the hospital or frantic because they received some heart wrenching news.  This struck home because it made me sound egotistical as though the world revolves around me; why did I think that? 

What does this negativity do to us?  It creates stress and an unhealthy lifestyle. 

“Emotional stress can weaken the immune system and cause high blood pressure, fatigue, depression, anxiety and even heart disease.”

In fact, it is estimated +75% of the physician office visits which occur in the USA annually are for stress related ailments.  It’s also the leading cause of death.  It’s a wonder why we react the way we do to certain actions is the first step.  We need to change our daily habits in order to begin a healthy lifestyle.  This can include:

• Getting regular physical activity
• Practicing relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga, tai chi or massage
• Keeping a sense of humor
• Spending time with family and friends
• Setting aside time for hobbies, such as reading a book or listening to music

Key Take Away
Slow down and live life.  Stop holding yourself back from happiness, success, family or anything else that you are striving to.  Stop worrying about things that are out of your control.  If it is out of your control, you can’t do anything about it, so why worry about it?  Why get upset about it?  Why lose sleep over it?  By taking stress out of your life, things won’t look as dull.  Our minds are so powerful, that if we train it to see things for what they really are it would be full of more rainbows than icy storms. 

Action Item
You don’t know everyone’s story and why people act the way they do.  We only have control over our own actions.  Instead of judging someone, talk to them, lend them a hand, or let them pass.  Humor is a big stress reliever for me.  You can’t stress when you are laughing.  If something works for you, share it.  Sharing is caring people.