A huge thanks for all the great music suggestions!
I am still sifting threw all the artists to see what is appropriate for the clinic but I can already tell I found some new favorite musicians! I’ve always been miserable at DJ’ing, which I admit is a poor quality for a dance choreographer. Luckily Tate is awesome with music and helps me out a lot!
4 Weeks to 30
In 4 short weeks I get to celebrate the end of my 20’s and the start of the 3-0’s. To mark this transition I am working to break some old habits that I’d rather not bring with me into my 30’s and to develop some new, healthy habits for the new decade. You can check out my first round of habit making and breaking here.
We are all aware of the profound impact of stress on our health and happiness. On a scale of 1-10 I’d say I am about a 8 in my ability to handle stress, too high in my book! I’ve been thinking a lot about my ability to deal with stress over the last year and slowly starting to develop healthy stress management techniques.
This week is all about fostering Adaptive Competence.
I heard this great article on NPR Monday morning and have been thinking about it ever since. The gist is that the key to a long life lies in that old saying “Don’t sweat the small stuff-and it’s all small stuff”. Our ability to bounce back in life is directly related to our longevity. This is not exactly breaking news but it’s a good reminder about the deep impact stress can have on our overall well-being.
Some of the tools I use to deal with stress
- Step outside of myself for a moment and asses the situation. Am I overreacting?
- Break it down. I have a tendency to get caught up in the snowball effect of stress but it’s helpful to identify each component that is contributing to the issue(s) and
- Identify what is out of your control. “You can’t wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time.” (Pat Schroeder) If something is within your control than roll up your sleeves and deal with it, otherwise breath and move on.
- Look at the big picture. “If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.” (E. Joseph Cossman)
I believe Adaptive Competence is one of those things that some people have to work at more than others but it’s accessible to all. Even more important than longevity is quality of life. I firmly believe that an ability to not “sweat the small stuff” enhances the quality of every moment of every day.
“If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times” ~Dean Smith
How refreshing it is to hear the same opinion on the matter as I do, thank you very much! I must say the timing is impeccable. You took the words right out of my mouth. Where you a fly on my wall last night?
🙂
Very glad to hear it resonated with you, this community of support is what I love about blogging.
I love so many of the quotes you used here! Especially by Schroeder; this is so helpful for me, so thank you for sharing it. I used to have huge issues with control — I still struggle — but have finally been able to stop & ask, “what — if anything — can I do?” & accept the things I have no control over more easily.
Your first tool is the most helpful for me: “step” outside of it & try to see it objectively, without judgment, for what it really is.
Another tool (maybe too much of a tangent) is to surround yourself with positive people. Being married to a man who is amazing at adaptive competence & does not sweating the small stuff has helped me so much & only enhanced my life. I spent a lot of time in the past with people who were not uplifting & possessed a lot of negativity, & it made it more difficult to overcome my own issues. It’s hard, but sometimes you have to be selfish & cut certain people out because “quality of life” is most important.
(Hope you don’t mind my long response, but I really love this post & appreciate how it spoke to me. Have a beautiful day, Faith!)
I love your comments Allie, they could never be too long!
SO TRUE about surrounding yourself with positive people. Tate is also super adaptable and rarely lets things get to him. My grandparents are AMAZING in this respect also and look where it’s got them: 90th and 93rd birthdays coming up!
Thanks for your thoughtful response and feedback.
Love this post. It really resonated with me today. I’m having to cope about something and I needed to read just these words.