"Warning, warning, emotional overload to commence in 3, 2, 1........"
In a split second, the switch has been flipped and the steam is coming out of your ears. One wrong move and the top of your head could come blowing off like a fiery top. The right move can remove the steam, and make for easier breathing. What is the right move? If you wait too long to make a decision, that steam could fuel any flames and cause the proverbial pot to boil and eventually boil over. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO?!?!?
Sound like a horror movie teaser? Imagine that being your temper. You are on the brink of an emotional meltdown, and you have to make a decision. What is the best decision for you. How do you handle the anger, or in some cases raging fury? Do you "blow your top," and go on? Do you talk through your anger to allow yourself time to "cool down?" Do you allow your anger/frustration to just boil until you've reached your boiling point; then get mad enough that you bring up every single wrong doing from years past? How do you manage your temper?
While I am not a doctor, psychologist or any other medical personnel, I have been taught in the ways of Natural Health. Natural Health is the belief that you must treat your whole person, in order to heal any symptoms. The whole person refers to mind, body and spirit. Temperament, attitude, and personality play into matters of the mind, which in turn also play into the ills of your body and your spirit. When your thinking, attitude towards issues and your personal self talk are negative, or angry; this is how your body and spirit will react to everything in your life.
By learning to manage your mind(i.e. temper, attitude and personality), you can manage everything about your self. While some would complain of too much stress, too much anger, not enough time, too many outside influences...this is when you have to take a step back. This is the time you have to find a way to manage your stresses. Managing stress is one of the first areas most people need to address. You can't eliminate stress, and anyone that tells you otherwise is a fool! You have to manage it. You have to find an outlet. Find something that will allow you to be still, in mind and body. That will allow you to think your thoughts, work through your emotions, and be calm. Once you find your calm, that is when you will be able to think clearly enough solve problems, have a civil conversation, readjust your attitude and eventually you will find your inner peace to get through each and every stress.
For most of us, finding a way to manage our temper(for those of us with a temper!)is of utmost importance to deal with others. Finding a way to manage our tempers without becoming a doormat is a constant balancing act. You can find your inner peace, only to have it tested by those that try to take advantage of you. While there are times having your temper explode may seem like the best way to handle a stress, a majority of the time...it's not. Too many people react first without thinking a stress through. They speak long before they think. Other times, you think for too long, and allow the stress to fester and build until a simple, unimportant event cause the top of your head to come spinning off in a fiery ball and it blows into some outer atmosphere. Once that happens, many words can not be taken back and many reactions can not be erased. This is why it is so important to learn to manage our stresses.
No matter how you deal with your stresses, it's much easier to manage them than to let them manage you. Temperament is just a first step to managing. Then you must decided how best to address your attitude and personality. Since each of us is designed differently, each of us will handle situations differently. Attitude is all about how you handle your stresses. If you have a poor attitude, your handling of stresses/issues will be poor. If you have a good attitude, you manage your stresses/issues as they are presented with a positive thought. An example would be a difficult person.
Poor Attitude: This difficult person knows exactly what buttons to push and sets you into orbit with just 5 minutes of
conversation. This person makes you angry and stressed out. This person makes some snide comment that just absolutely
has you fuming! Your response: You are instantly angry. You do everything in your power to put this person "in their
place." You yell back at them or turn to someone else and talk about how horrible this difficult person is. In turn, you
are now angry, fuming, and your stress level in through the roof!
Good Attitude: This difficult person knows your buttons, but you aren't concerned with them. You know some people are just
difficult by nature. Rather than giving them the joy of seeing you stressed, you take a deep breath, count if you must,
and allow their ignorance to go in one ear and out the other. You know your inner peace is much more important than this
difficult situation and you can "bless and release" this person. You know that this difficult person has not found their
inner peace and finds pleasure in "misery loves company."
While I am aware that some difficult situations are not as easy as the examples, the majority are if you have found a way to manage your stress. I am also aware that every situation is unique and some situations will bring out our worst; once we learn to manage our temper, control our attitude, and be who we are without apology...it makes life a little better.
I am personally making this journey again. I realized this past week that my attitude was really bad, my temper was getting worse, and dealing with my stress...HA! I was stressed out, angry and anyone I dealt with only ticked me off more! I realized that my inner peace has been gone for awhile and it was taking it's toll on my health and well being. Since I refuse to give ANYONE that much control over me, it was time to readjust. As I always say in trying times, "The winds of change are among us and it's time for them to switch directions."
Wishing you a new direction and much peace!
~Sal~
