Mel Robbins says stress isn't a malfunction. Your racing heart and heightened awareness are the body delivering energy for something that matters. Thank your body for the boost, then use it to focus on what you actually care about.
The number one thing people misunderstand about stress is when they feel stressed, they think it is their brain and their body betraying them, and that the most important thing they can do in that moment is to try to feel less stressed. What you experience as stress is your brain and your body trying to help you in a moment that matters, and every symptom of stress we don't like is your body and brain trying to do something that is useful. heart racing, or sometimes we feel like our blood pressure rising, that is the sign that— 2 things. Your body is trying to give you energy, right? That's literally, that's all that is. Your heart is possibly pounding faster, or it's contracting out more blood with every pump so that you have the energy you need to deal with whatever matters to you. But also, what's really fascinating is in moments of heightened stress, Your brain actually prioritizes sensory information from your heart. It can actually sense your heart more. So even if your heart wasn't pounding faster, you might feel your heart more clearly, and that's a sign that your brain is actually trying to connect you to your heart, to, almost metaphorically, to help you think about what you care about, to think about who and what matters most. Hmm. So, you know, what I would say is that even just that first symptom, when you feel your heart racing, the first thing you can do is think, okay, thank you, body, for trying to give me energy. I have the ability. That means some part of me believes I can do something here. It's not hopeless, or I'm not trapped. Hmm. And then also, thank you, brain, for telling me, trying to bring me back to my heart. One of the best things you can do to cope is to think about who or what matters most to you, what you care about, and in this situation, What's the opportunity that I have to do something that reflects who or what I care about most?
Oprah Winfrey: How to Find Your Unique Purpose, Authentic Power, and Calling in Life
