*5. 4. 3. 2. 1. … Take Action!

5 deep breaths

4 minutes of silence

3 things I’m grateful for

• Hurricane Harvey went into the coast 35 miles NE of my home in Corpus Christi
• No one I know lost their life because of this storm
• There ARE things I can do to help even if I don’t know exactly what they are right now

2 things I plan to get done today

• Write to you, not what I think you want to hear but from my own experience strength and hope
• Meet with a client and write her recent success story for Friday’s newsletter

1 reason why this is important to me

• It keeps me out of my head where Harvey is still wreaking havoc!

*melrobbins.com

Ever had one of those days when you felt frustrated, blocked, irritated, a little emotional, and generally out of sorts? But not quite sure what was underneath it all? A day when you were pulled in multiple directions, without knowing which way to turn?

Discombobulated

I’m going on a couple of days of this now and a trusted friend suggested I was feeling discombobulated.

I haven’t felt pressured enough to call it stress, and my irritation hasn’t been strong enough to be classed as anger. I just haven’t been on top of my game, and I’ve lost contact with my usual inspiration. Poor me … right?

I’ve been a little impatient (mostly with myself), and had enough rest to not call it tiredness. I know not to isolate so I’ve been going to work, church and networking meetings as well as reaching out to friends who might be in need. With so much going on – and not achieving anything – Dr. Google indeed confirmed my friend’s suggestion that I am feeling discombobulated.

Several dictionary definitions put together in my own words might describe discombobulation as a word that sums up the kind of generalized anxiety that you can’t put your finger on, but you know that something isn’t quite right.

Feeling discombobulated can be a low-level but disconcerting fear of something not working out the way you’d like it to, and you may not have control of the outcome. Considering the mad dash we just made to Austin with our 3 cats and dog and then evacuating Buda, TX to avoid the flooding there just 48 hours later, no doubt about what I’m feeling.

Well, you all know me to be a forward mover so here is a few thoughts I’m having on how to overcome this feeling of being discombobulated. Just in case it’s like this for you, I’ve come up with 8 easy tips to help us handle any post hurricane disorientation we may be having. They are in no particular order …

1.Get Enough Rest: 

Tired is part of the acronym HALT that I like to remember when I am feeling irritable and discontent. Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. If we are feeling any one of these its better do some self-care or many of us are not fit to help anyone else at all!

2.Healthy Habits:  

Eating well and exercising regularly helps keep the hormones in my body (like serotonin) balanced — when we’re feeling physically healthy it’s easier to feel mentally healthy and on top of our game.

Here are a few foods that are recognized as good mood-foods that you might want to give a try: nuts, soy, milk and yogurt, dark green leafy vegetables, dark orange vegetables, broth soups, legumes, citrus, wheat germ, tart cherries, and berries have all been shown to help improve our state of mind.

3.Take Some Action: 

With all the pain and devastation in the coastal bend right now I can’t help but feel powerless and not sure how to best help out. I’m in prayer about this and have faith that where and how I am needed will be shown to me in my Higher Power’s time and not my own.

In the meantime, small actions like making a grocery shopping list, cleaning my desk area, or listing 2 important things I plan to accomplish today and then working on them gives me a sense of control again. Taking a small doable action empowers us to feel that we can move forward and that this funk we get in will soon pass.

4.Ask myself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” 

This is one of my favorites, when I face fears I may be having head on, acknowledge them, and then let them go, I usually find that I actually feel much better. I can share these fears with another person and pray about them as well.

Besides, If we pray why worry, if we worry why pray?

5.Consider Meditation, Tai Chi or Yoga: 

I personally like to meditate and even if you aren’t comfortable with meditation (a lot of people aren’t), learning breathing techniques or just ways to relax can give us the skills we need to self-soothe the next time we are having the feeling of discombobulation, stress or anxiety.

6.Practice Detachment:

Learning to watch my life from a distance for a minute or two—keeping the focus on myself, doing the next right thing and staying in the moment can help me to let go of the judgements I am feeling about myself or what someone else should or shouldn’t be doing.

Getting some distance from our thoughts can help us get out of unhealthy mental cycles.

7.Call a Professional if Need Be: 

Your doctor, therapist, sponsor or a trusted other. If it’s crippling you, it’s much more than discombobulation and may require professional help. Several times in my own life I’ve had to reach out for more help than just someone who loves me could give.

Sometimes it takes a village and this is nothing to be ashamed of!

8.Take it Easy on Yourself:  

Don’t beat up on yourself because you sometimes have a hard time dealing with the world. We all do. Treat yourself—and your discombobulation—with the same kindness and thoughtfulness that you would a friend.

I’m so grateful to finally take some action this morning and get the real me out and into your mailboxes. It’s a risk that this helped me more than it will help you.

I want you to know that I am thinking of each of you with gratitude. If you are not already one of my prized clients, are still without power and having cabin fever come over to the studio this week for a workout or two. Just reply to this newsletter and we’ll fit you right in.

by Lisa Wright, CFT, LCI

…and take this quiz from Fitness Magazine

To change your body would mean to experience a sense of physical or emotional difference in appearance or feeling. For many reasons, you may have come to believe that you NEED to make a change and you just don’t. Fear may be a paralyzing and emotional stumbling block that may now, or has in the past, delayed your progress.

CHANGE: The common expression “I need to change” would be to say that you feel the need to appear and/or feel differently than you do now.
FEAR: When you approach your fitness with trepidation, it may take you on an emotional roller-coaster ride through a house of horrors, walled by distorted mirrors. How you should look or feel may be so distorted that you are being held prisoner by this confusion.

CHANGE: In reality there is nothing to change. I love reminding my clients that they already are everything they desire to be, even if there is a little extra.
FEAR: It is fear that holds your attention to the belief that, because of your life circumstances, your fitness is just the way it is was or ever will be, eliminating you from any responsibility in the matter. You may even be blaming genetics on your current condition.

Perhaps you are afraid of hurting or being hurt, physically or emotionally; afraid of losing something that you conceal; fear of inadequacy; fear of lacking potential and ability. The biggest fear I hear, when it comes to fitness, is fear of failure.

CHANGE: Whether you or aware of it or not, you ARE changing, every day. Growing a little older, a little grayer, and a little grumpier and the attitudes are not getting any better. An interest in getting fit just doesn’t really interest you and feels like too much trouble; and still, you ARE changing perhaps for the worse.
FEAR: You walk into a wall of fear the moment you want anything more than status quo, because you are tired! As you move toward a new resolve, there are moments of fearful caution; moments of “Can I do this?” “I can’t do this.” “How will it affect or change me?” And so goes the monkey mind up and down the greased pole.

CHANGE: Change may be difficult to handle and cause emotional turmoil when relating to others. As you attempt to adjust to a new fitness or eating regime, family and friends may become distant. Your friends and family may not immediately understand your change at first. Try sharing with them that you are making short term decisions toward long term health.
FEAR: You may have the fear of giving up what you have spent a lifetime protecting – the need to be needed by your family, friends, position and wealth. This protecting an illusion has eaten up any time you have for your own self-care.  Taking responsibility for your own health is priceless!

Remember, I said earlier, “In reality there is nothing to change?” When you are no longer afraid or attached to illusion, then everything is for your use. Position, cars, homes, money, gyms, and personal trainers may be used as necessary for your care.

CHANGE: Positive change may come very slowly. The old “you” with whom you were comfortable may be resistant to the new decisions you are making. The mind resists and fears what it does not understand.  There may be a longing to slip back into your old ways. For a time, this change may cause an inner/outer struggle and you will forget why you are doing what is necessary and be tempted to succumb to the whims of conditioning.
FEAR: When we are comfortable and consider change we fear that we are being asked to “give up” this or that. In reality, what is being asked is that we give up our attachments to unhealthy things, not the “use” of them. When we are unattached to certain foods, alcohol and a sedentary lifestyle then we can:

• choose fatty, salty, sugary food once a week (as an “eat off” day) to stimulate our metabolism
• choose alcohol once in a while to socialize with our friends
• lie around on vacation or once a week to rest our bodies

When you move out of your fear box, you move into perfect love. Love for yourself and the freedom to make healthier choices one moment, one day, and one week at a time for the rest of your lifetime. The lifetime that you have right now!

Resolve to be fearless about change in 2012!

…ok, that a little heavy. Have some fun with this quiz!

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