Can You Prepare Yourself to
Handle the Bad Things in Life?
Do you ever find yourself turning off the evening
news because watching one more story about something bad will shoot
your stress level into the stratosphere? Global warming, terrorism,
record home foreclosures and of course, murder, crime and scandal
are the prevailing stories of the day. We live in a world where
we're constantly bombarded by bad news. While you can't bury your
head in the sand and pretend these problems don't exist, can you
prevent the state of the world from stressing you out?
Louise Lewis, a ‘self-growth junkie’ and author of the inspirational
new book, "No Experts Needed: The Meaning of Life According to You!"
believes we can learn to protect ourselves from feeling overwhelmed
by negative events. "Many of us, whether we're consciously aware of
it or not, absorb all of this bad news and it chips away at our
sense of security and balance," says Lewis. "So how do you prevent
the state of the world from completely stressing you out? You focus
on changing the state of your world and on touching the lives around
you in a positive way."
For example, if your life is a daily routine of getting up, going to
work and then coming home and watching TV each night, you can become
isolated. That makes it easy to focus on the very negative things
that are going on in the world. On the flip side, if you seek out
opportunities to socialize and show compassion towards others you
achieve multiple positive benefits.
"When you build bonds with other people it's like weaving a safety
net for yourself," says Lewis. "The ability to commiserate and laugh
together establishes a healthy foundation for you emotionally. And
when you feel anxious about the world-at-large, giving to others can
help. Your giving spirit can simply lead you to talk to someone who
looks lonely in a coffee shop. Sometimes chance encounters where you
take the time to reach out on a human level can have a profound
impact on others-- and yourself."
Reaching out to others can be a key coping strategy when things in
your own life get rough—and the reality is, they will get rough at
some point. Whether you’re dealing with a divorce, death of a loved
one or some other drastic, life-altering event, Lewis believes it is
possible to prepare yourself for adversity.
“I’m not saying you should walk around in a constant state of
anticipation waiting for bad things to happen to you,” says Lewis.
“But realistically speaking no one is immune from problems. So if
you work on fortifying your life, you’ll be in a better position to
handle those major events when they do happen.”
So how do you ‘fortify’ your life? For starters, you spend time
figuring out what’s important to you—essentially determining what
your personal meaning of life is. If you gain a sense of what
matters most in your life and then focus on those areas, you’ll have
an anchor when the storm hits.
“Deciding your own meaning of life gives you strength and it also
gives you a freedom to break down barriers with the people you
love,” says Lewis. “Once I began following my own sense of purpose,
I was able to talk to my family in a new, more open way. They sensed
the honesty of it and it’s changed the dynamics of our
relationships. It put history in its proper place- the past. And our
improved relationships fortified my buffer zone against the bad
things in life.”
Visit www.noexpertsneeded.com
for more information.
By Louise Lewis has two decades of experience in
marketing and advertising in the high-tech industry. When the
dot-com bubble imploded, so did Lewis’ cozy world. Her sudden job
loss led her on a journey to seek out a new meaning in her life. She
discovered some core truths that can help others discover their own
sense of purpose. Born and raised in Louisiana, Lewis earned her
bachelor’s degree in Communications at California State University
in Fullerton. She still lives in Southern California and serves as a
volunteer at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
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