Knowing when to take a break

Sometimes bounce-back and sometimes give yourself time.

I dedicated a whole post to bouncebackability. It’s an important part of life and I believe that having the resilience to not let every little thing in life knock you about is useful.

But on the flip-side sometimes you just need a break. You need to eat good food, take a walk, relax, spend time alone, sleep, do something enjoyable, turn your phone off, sit in silence, take some deep breaths, get a massage or whatever it may be.

It’s not about wallowing but instead admitting ‘I’m going through something and I’m going to take care of myself’. Don’t be so quick to always bounce back to the point where you’re trying to bypass or ignore your feelings.

What do you need?

In moments of stress and panic it’s important to know what it is that you need.

It could be a drink of water, to take a walk, to stretch your body, deep breaths or even someone to talk to.

The great thing about knowing what you need is that when these moments come up they become easier.

Instead of your body getting worked up, your chest getting tight and your breaths shallow you can instead just go for a walk.

I find EFT to be incredibly useful in situation of overwhelm. The combination of repetitive tapping and comforting words can totally shift my physiology.

I love that it’s free, almost anyone can do it and it can be done anywhere.

Dream a new dream

Remaining open to the uncertainty of life has many benefits but a reduction in stress and anxiety are definitely ones worth making a note of.

And so when life doesn’t go to plan it’s okay to embrace uncertainty and dream a new dream. It’s much easier to go with the flow of life than to resist it as they say what you resist persists and I agree.

You might find yourself straying far from where think you want to be or where you thought you’d end up but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad place to be.

Different, unexpected or surprising aren’t equal to bad.

The path of most resistance

Most of us have things that we want to achieve in this life and some of us are willing to work extremely hard for what we want.

We’ll sacrifice a lot of things and even go through periods or excessive stress or discomfort in order to reach the light at the end of the tunnel.

In some ways it’s like we take the path of most resistance. We know we could live an easier life but we choose otherwise because we’re not just dreamers we’re do-ers.

But at the end of the day, what’s it worth?

Is putting yourself through a great challenge worth it in the hope that you’ll overcome it.

Of course if you make sacrifices and are able to upgrade your life tenfold then you’ll believe it was worth it.

But don’t get caught in believing that you need to struggle to justify your success.

Girl off-track

It happens to the best of us and sometimes it’s what we need. Falling off-track serves as a necessary reminder of what we’ve learnt or how far we’ve come.

Noticing that your habits and practices have dissolved and been replaced by your former unhelpful ways is just a sign to get yourself back on track.

Perhaps it could have been triggered by something like stress, which effects many of us.

But the amazing thing I’ve learnt is that awareness is fundamental, if you were once ‘on track’ you can always get back on track.

Whatever triggered you to fall off-track it’ll be worth dealing with it or else you might find yourself getting off-track again and again.

All you need

And maybe all you need to do is take a deep breath and let go. You have the opportunity to take control of the way you want to feel even though you may not realise it.

It’s often only when you decide that you want something more or something different that you become aware of what is available to you.

Suddenly you find that ‘all of us are here, awaiting you’ and the love, support or kindness is almost overwhelming.

And I’m sharing these words as someone who has experienced them.