Using Stress as a Motivator

Hosting a TV show is a lot of work. My to-do list is longer than I care to admit. So today as I settled myself back into work after breaking for the holidays, the circuits in my brain started to pop, sizzle and smoke. This feeling of overload is familiar to me. But after so many years of observing the mechanism of stress, I realize that it's an unnecessary emotion. It sure doesn't feel unnecessary when I experience it, but I catch it quicker and quicker these days. Stress is simply a choice, and often an ingrained behavior. The more times we can stop, breath, and switch our gears out of the stress-filled stories racing through our minds, the more centered, focused and productive we become.

In the slow-motion observation of myself today, I saw the following thoughts:
• I'll never get this all done
• There's not enough time in the day
• My workload is never ending
• I could work and work and work without breaks, and still never get caught up!

As I caught these limiting thoughts -- which do nothing but give me brain-fog, scattered thinking and frenzied action -- I took a deep breath, came back to my myself, my inner stillness, and realized from that peaceful place that my life is indeed short. Every moment is precious. No matter what the project, tv show or not, I want to be present in my life, enjoying every chore, check-list and challenge. Without a belief, every action is exactly the same. Every experience is vivid, fullfilling and alive. As Byron Katie often says, without an internal story, we spend our lives either sitting, standing, or lying down. Nothing more is possible, ever.

So what will you do with your experiences today of sitting, standing, and lying down? What stories will you tell about it all? Will you give yourself peace, or stress? It's really up to you...

©2007 Stephanie McWilliams