Let It Be

Have you ever found yourself stressed and overwhelmed over something that hasn't even happened yet? Have you ever said to yourself, "I can't do this" before you've even tried?

This is one of my biggest problems, and I'm trying really hard to remove the negativity from my thought process.

For example, this evening I checked my work email, and was immediately bombarded with an onslaught of communications, from questions to requests, meeting invites to FYIs. Immediately I started stressing out. Thoughts of "How will I get all this done in the morning? Why me? I can't deal with all of this!" began running through my head. I had to tell myself out loud to calm down and breathe. This is not a situation for now, it's an issue to tackle in the morning.

Oddly enough, this particular situation happens to me all the time, and I always have the same freak-out reaction. The fact that I've handled this same situation over and over again seems to escape me, and I go into panic mode before I've even considered everything. If I took the time to assess the situation for seriousness before going crazy, I've realized that a lot of them aren't nearly as urgent or stressful as I make them out to be.

Photo from embrace-hope

If I spent my whole evening stressing out over those emails, I wouldn't get to relax at all. In the morning, I would go into work even more stressed out, and would not be thinking in the positive mindset required to successfully handle them. Instead of continuing my freak-out, I put away my phone and moved on to doing something else.

When faced with a problem, difficult situation, or issue, make sure to take the time to assess it, and don't immediately jump to the "OMG" reaction. The situation is what is, so let it be. All you can change is how you react to it. In the end, you'll be a lot more relaxed, and can tackle the situation from a calmer place.