Good morning,
Sometimes I like to take it easy and think about life. This may not be all too surprising for those who have read some of my previous letters, but it is something I find myself doing quite a lot. Recently, my thoughts have been occupied by how difficult life can be sometimes, and how for some people, even doing the simplest things can be a monumental achievement.
For anyone who is over the age of 16 and has not faced some kind of difficulty, I would be very interested to ask what life feels like to be wrapped up in bubble wrap… or why you are lying to me! Hitting bumps along the road of life is a natural part of the human experience, and can sure hurt like hell when one pops up to smack you in the face.
This is the point, however, I feel like a lot of people can trip themselves up. We have all known people who react badly when eventual difficulties arise. When you are in the eye of the storm during these times, it can be very difficult to gain perspective and extract the learning experiences from the situation. It may be only later where the nuggets of information may appear to us… long after it could have been helpful!
Rather sheepishly I write this to you, having been one of those overwhelmed, stressed out fools making everyone around them nervous. How did I react when it all got too much? Simply put, badly!
I swam in circles like a puppy chasing its tail, all the time, winding my insides tighter and coming closer to losing my grasp on sanity. Don’t get me wrong, I did try to sort my situation out… I just couldn’t crack the problem! Eventually, I did find my feet, stand up and step out of the hot water I had been in, but not after poaching myself thoroughly whilst struggling in the stress.
You may at this point be asking why you would want to read a letter on stress management from the likes of me? Well, my personal philosophy is that we should not judge the person by how hard they get smacked down. Rather, its how they pick themselves up which is where they should be measured.
There are two ways you can get hurt in life. You can be externally attacked by things you have very little control over or you can purposefully put yourself through stressful situations intentionally. The second option can be further split into ones that help us grow and others which diminish us. Understanding the benefit of putting yourself into stressful situations which can encourage growth, is a tool you can use to your advantage if done correctly.
What I discovered after my period of mega stress was that if you put yourself in the middle of situations which, whilst stressful, you have an amount of control over; you can become much better equipt to deal with similar moments in the future!
One letter can’t really do this idea justice, there will be more about applying stress to yourself so the world doesn’t have too… soon.
Yours sincerely,
Ryan Rose-Blanc
Rose-Blanc Town management
Atowncalledme 