Keep Calm And Keep Going
Slow down, breathe deep and close your eyes for a second before beginning to read this.
The first thing to understand is that stress is like fire and oxygen mixed together. It begins with a little worry. Then a little more worry feeds on the worry. This makes your heart speed up. You start projecting a whole lot of disaster scenarios. And before you know it you are gripped by doom and gloom and instead of a ship to take you forward, the future is like a freight train coming to run you down.
I tell you this from personal experience. After college I did my MA in stressology and am now doing a PhD in advanced anxiety. Currently I’m an expert in worrying, I can see a fallen apple and predict an earthquake. I can see a pimple and imagine skin cancer. At one time I could watch a sunset and forecast the end of the world.
It probably has a lot to do with the challenge of building a multi-million dollar company without being a businessman. You have to keep five balls up in the air and two of them are yours!
Still I sometimes manage to see some perspective and that’s what I want to share with you. I’ve tried Reiki, Pranic Healing, Past Life Regression, Vastu, Homeopathy, and Psychotherapy and now have someone helping me to rewire my neuro linguistic pathways.
(Write to me, I’d be happy to share my experiences of any or all of the above). Time for a question now. You know how sometimes time passes so fast that weeks have passed and you don’t realise it. And sometimes time passes so slowly that you are going mad with frustration.
(At one time I had a theory on life. There are only two essential states. You are either screwed or you’re bored.) Anyway. Tell me which is better? Time passing too fast. Or too slow? Think. Think. Think. Actually the answer is neither. It’s best when time stands still. Because that’s when you control time instead of it controlling you.Remember standing on a beach and looking at the sea. Or a lazy morning when you sat on your verandah staring at a tree. Or a cool summer evening when the breeze felt it was blowing through your body. You were making time stand still. So what are some secrets of keeping calm and keep going?
First of all, remember that it’s all probably going to work out in the end. When you’re 70 you will probably look out of your verandah at pigeons trying to make out. You’ve made it this far, you’ll make it there — in fact the probability is probably 90 per cent.
Next. Slow down your moments whenever possible. Slow. Slow. Slower. This is particularly important when you eat food. Be mindful of every bite. The more focus you eat with, the better energy you get. Too many of us are multitasking when we eat. Take this mindfulness into everything you do. Look around you slowly. At your wife. Perhaps your child. Maybe a friend. Maybe a biscuit lying next to a cup of coffee. Feel thankful for each of these. (Also — believe in something greater or someone better than yourself).
The key is little rituals that slow things down. Like feeding pigeons that come to your ledge. Or sipping a glass of wine every evening. Or writing a journal of your thoughts every evening. I gave up smoking a year ago and really, really miss it.
The only new ritual I’ve found is that I cut my toast into four parts every morning and put peanut butter on each! Don’t Take too much stress. Life Too tricks you. Seriously You’ll just get caught up. Never Get swept away. Out Of balance. It Alive is worth everything. Now do one more thing — read the first two words of each sentence in the previous two lines (starting with ‘Don’t’)!
