Dealing with Stress

Today we're going to talk about stress, what causes
stress and how to deal with it. 

I'm going to show you how to keep your mind relaxed
and focused .... even when it seems there's no end
to the amount of things you have to get done.

There is a secret to dealing with stress ...

Secrets of Meditation

Master this secret and you will be in control of your mind and
your life.  Disregard this principle and the chaos of life will
control YOU.

Imagine this ...

You're getting ready for work in the morning.  You have a number
of things to do.

1) You have to make your breakfast.

2) You have to polish your shoes.

3) You have to brush your teeth.

You're already running late when...

4) You realize you can't find your keys.

Now you have a problem to solve on top of all you have
to do.  And just when you thought things were getting
out of hand...

5) You realize that someone else is in the bathroom and you
  can't get in to clean your teeth.

6) The phone rings.

7) You realize you need to go to the bank.

Stress and overwhelm arise when we have too many unresolved
actions and problems to do deal with.  As each new unsolved problem is added to your plate, you start to lose the feeling of certainty and
control.  The more unresolved problems, the more stressed you
feel.

Unfortunately, life rarely presents us with a single thing to
deal with at once.  Normally life requires us to deal with a
handful of issues at the same time.

That's why our minds are in the habit of jumping around from one
thing to another.

Guess what?

At any given time, your mind is simultaneously trying to solve
ALL KINDS of unresolved issues.  In fact, a lot of this is
going on outside of our conscious awareness.

Over time you wear down.  Your mind loses its sharpness. 
The world doesn't look as bright as it used to.  You're
not enjoying things and having fun in the same way anymore. 
This is how we lose touch with ourselves.

So what can we do about this?

The answer is to focus on resolving one issue at a time.  We
feel stressed when the mind is trying to solve too many
many things at once.

If you can restrict your focus to one single issue,
suddenly life becomes less stressful and confusing.

If you're getting ready in the morning, you may decide the first
thing to focus on is eating breakfast.  As long as you focus
only on that, you feel more in control.

Now, that's exactly what we're doing in meditation.

We're giving the mind a single thing to pay attention to.  As we
do this, we feel the stress beginning to dissipate.  The jumble
of thoughts and unresolved problems swimming around in our minds
begins to slow. 

We feel happier and more in control.

You wouldn't go out to an important meeting or social occasion
without clean clothes, brushing your teeth and taking care of
your appearance, would you?

What about your mind - the instrument through which you perceive
reality?  Doesn't it make sense to take the time to clean up
your attitude and the way you think and feel as well?
Secrets of Meditation
That's all for today. 

Thanks for the privilege of sharing,


Best wishes,

Matt Clarkson
The Mind-Body Training Company