What to do when you face tension and discomfort

So in my last novel of a post entitled, The number one reason we eat when we don't want to I wrote this:

Unless you're not human, I think it's safe to bet there will ALWAYS be some sort of tension / discomfort we face. However, how we REACT to that is our choice. More on this in my next post...

Well, THIS is my next post. Are you excited? I know I'm excited to write this for you!

Let's get to it...

When sh*t hits the fan, and it always does, usually the first thing we forget about is our health and fitness.

When we're stressed, it impacts our eating and exercise. When other areas of our life are suffering, it impacts our eating and exercise, too.

I've spent hours on the phone and email going back and forth with clients talking NOTHING about their health and fitness. Yet, it has EVERYTHING to do with their health and fitness.

INTRODUCING MY TWO ARROW APPROACH TO LIFE

So here's the 2 arrow approach to life I *try* to follow and I think you might dig it.

When something bad happens to us, it's as if we're hit by 2 arrows. The bad/stressful/annoying/unhappy/sad/scary/hurtful/uncomfortable/tense thing is usually very real. Let's call that the first arrow.

For example, if we get into a car accident, it's at the very least, annoying. This is the first arrow.

We then might start to think how unlucky we are, how we can't catch a break, why we even left at that time, why we took that particular route, and we keep replaying the incident in our heads. That is the second arrow.

The second arrow is so dangerous because we don't realize we have control over it.

We do, of course.

That means we can try to structure our life in a way that minimizes our chance of getting hit by arrows, OR we can deliberately practice how we're affected by the second arrow.

The best way to practice this is to be conscious of when we're indulging in self-pity, and re-playing and realizing that this pain is within our control.

These are the second arrows.

Why not try it? Just for this week. Next time something happens to you that you don't love (whether it's a car accident or your boss giving you a boatload of work on a Friday night or your kids being unappreciative or someone being a jerk), try to focus only on the second arrow...how you react to it.

Even just being aware of this can make a huge difference.

------> :(     -------> :)

-Adam