Are you stressed?

Life always presents something. Nearly every day I’m confronted with something that can stress me out. It wasn’t long ago that I would let the stress pile up and get to me. Then I made some changes to remove all stress.

A lot of things are out of your control, but there is one thing that is always in your control. That is your response to whatever happens in life. One of the hardest things to do is to combat your thoughts. I’ve read that as much as 80% of our self-talk is negative. It’s take a conscious effort to invert your self-talk.

1. Train your mind to think positive only
–Literally stop thinking and breathe
–Block negative thoughts by picturing or reciting something positive like “It will all work out.” “I’m still breathing.” “Joy comes in the morning.” “I’ll be alright.” “One day I’ll have an amazing story to tell.”

2. Laugh
–Talk to a friend who makes you laugh
–Watch a comedian who makes you laugh
–Literally force yourself to laugh in the face of problems. The physical act of chuckling when something stressful happens can shift your perspective immediately.

3. Pray Without Ceasing
–Every breath, every thought, and every action should be a prayer of some sort. What I mean is, live right, do right, think right, act right. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck in negative thoughts or actions because it will block your blessings and bring more problems than you can handle.

4. Create a Self-Care Routine
–Choose a workout time even if you can only walk for 5 minutes, start there
–Choose a time to put your phone down and relax without the rays and toxic energy your phone brings
–Choose a meal plan that you stick to so you aren’t consistently poisoning your body. I’ve only had water and nutritional shakes for the last 5 days and it’s amazing how much more clarity and energy I have. What you consume can consume you.

5. Live More
–In your free time, plan something to do even if it’s a free walk in the park. Not every activity has to cost.
–Think of inexpensive ways to live life to the fullest and start saving today if you have to. Create a savings for living and as soon as you hit your goal, go! In July I plan to take a road trip with my family from Florida to Maine. Take time to live life more. You can afford it if you plan for it.

6. Watch Your Words
–Anything you speak yields fruit. If you reply to this email about all of your problems and struggles and how you never see the sunshine, you just cemented your reality. Your words become things. The Lord showed you that when He said, “let their be light.” Be careful and don’t claim sickness, loneliness, poverty, and misery.

7. Love More
–The world is conditioning us to hate ourselves and hate everyone around us. The media will drive a wedge between anyone they can because that discord and chaos boost profits in the economy. When you’re unhappy you spend more money in frivolous ways. If you hate your body, your race, the opposite race, or anything else, you will act out and it typically is in the form of consumption of something that benefits the economy, but not you.
–Spend more time with your loved onesnand even with strangers so you can get to know more people. Instead of hating someone or something, learn more about it and learn to how to process that new information and even if it results in dislike and distance, it won’t be as toxic to your body as hate is.

I hope those tips can help in someway. As I learn and grow, I just want to share what has helped me with the hopes that it can help you too.

Blessings,
Tony Gaskins Jr.