Be the Best You Can Be

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I’ve recently learned a trick on how to prevent stress. It’s simple and it works! Being a parent of a teenager is inherently stressful - I think the words teenager and stress are actually synonyms - and any way you can figure out how to prevent stress while dealing with them is a huge help.

One of my favorite stress reducing techniques is getting centered. What is ‘getting centered’? That is for you to figure out. Everyone has their own individual way to do this. Some even have more than one. But let me tell you once you figure it out, you will be able to start using it immediately.

Why do I have anxiety?

In my opinion, our lives are spinning so quickly and are so intricate, that we quickly become out-of-control. It is in that place out-of-controlness that we become stressed. It doesn’t mean our whole life is off kilter, maybe just an area or two, like kids, health, money. But those areas can be just as if not more stressful than you can believe!

So how to we reduce our stress?

In my opinion, you can’t reduce the stress. But you can learn to handle it. One way to do this is to get centered.

Centering is what exactly?

It basically means to find a way to give yourself a sense of control over something in your life. It doesn’t have to be huge, trust me! It might not even be anything that is not in control, but just something you can have control over for that moment. It will do amazing things to your relieve your stress.

How do you get centered?

Figure out something that’s relaxing or soothing for you, and that gives you a sense of accomplishment when you get done. I have a couple of things I do to get centered - the main one is to mow the lawn. Now I know, most guys my age can hardly wait for their kids to get old enough to hand that job over to them, but as far as I’m concerned, they’ll never learn how to do it! Believe me, they’re not too bummed - they don’t get centered the same way I do. Anyway, I just love the feeling and the satisfaction of seeing that freshly mowed and edged lawn, with hardly a blade of grass out of place. It gets me centered.

I also feel immensely centered when I make the bed. That’s right - nice tight corners and smooth sheets and blankets tucked in snugly. It brings me right into center. My wife loves this one especially.

My wife also has her own way of reducing anxiety and stress. When her life is spinning out-of-control, you will find her muttering under the laundry room seek as she digs out the Windex and paper towels. She cleans the sliding glass door with a vengeance and then a smile. She is centered.

Separate those paper clips!

I know of a corporate bigwig who got centered by going through his paper clips and sorting the small ones from the large ones. When his secretary offered to do this mundane job for him, he politely declined. He knew this little secret kept him centered and at the top of his game!

That’s it! Told you it was simple. So the next time you can’t get a handle on things, figure out what you can do to get centered. And before you know it, you have your own ways of reducing stress.