When you begin to feel overwhelmed, take your stress as an indication that you need to laugh about something.  Here’s your drill:  you begin to feel pressure, you begin to sweat, you begin to breath a little more shallowly.  Associate these feelings with the need to laugh.  And then STOP.  Stop for a minute and find something that you think is funny.  Take a five minute break to just remind yourself to laugh and smile. Five minutes is all you need to change your perspective.  Remind yourself of the absurdity of the situation. Remind yourself that you will better handle the stress with a smile on your face.  And even if you don’t feel like smiling, fake it… Fake it until you make it. Remember that everything that you think and feel is a current reflection of the state that you are creating for yourself right this minute.  Obviously you want to create positive, happy, loving situations.  So derail your stressful and negative thought processes.  The more you practice throwing these thought processes off their tracks, the easier it will be for you to identify with the emotions you have power over.  Eventually, you will catch your negative thoughts before they even cross your mind– or as soon as they pop into consciousness, you will know just what to do with them!It gets easier the more you practice it, I promise.

*letting out a deep breath*

I think I’ve had a little too much caffeine today. Spent a majority of the day at Denny’s, studying the nervous system. It’s a beautiful thing, really. I’ve learned more this semester than I probably have in my entire life. What an amazing opportunity for growth. I’ve learned a great deal about myself, about my reactions, about my weaknesses and strengths. And tonight, while I was thinking, I believe I overcame an internal struggle I didn’t really even realize I was up against. I’m not sure I can explain it to you, but here it goes. (more…)