Helping people everyday is something that I encourage everyone to do, as it can lead to a much more proactive and fulfilling mindset and overall lifestyle.
I personally found much inspiration and guidance from Stephen R. Covey’s bestseller “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and continue to live by and improve upon these habits. I quoted him several times below.
Humans Can Choose Their Response!
Let’s look at the word ‘responsibility’ – “response-ability” – the ability to choose your response. That’s what separates humans from animals! Humans possess ‘self-awareness’ and are able to choose their response to any given stimulus (read: situation, circumstance, condition).
Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior and success is a product or direct result of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling. Reactive people are often affected by their physical environment. If the weather is good, they feel good. If it isn’t, it affects their attitude and their performance. Proactive people can carry their own weather with them. Eleanor Roosevelt stated: “no one can hurt you without your consent.” And in the words of Gandhi: “They cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them”. It is our willing permission, our consent to what happens to us, that hurts us far more than what happens to us in the first place.
What has this to do with stress, you may ask? Well, we are talking about how you should be pro-active and choose your response to whatever happens to you…other people’s opinion, unpleasant situations at work, dead-lines, raising your kids, a car-accident, being sick, financial problems, etc. You can have these circumstances knock you down, and let your emotions of anger, failure, and depression take over (this is how most people cope with the ‘stresses’ of life). BUT you have a choice! Be proactive, don’t blame the circumstances and don’t blame others; find a solution and ACT! Use your resourcefulness and initiative.
It’s NOT what others do or even our own mistakes that hurt us the most; it’s our response to those things. Chasing after a poisonous snake that bites us will only drive the poison through our entire system. It is far better to take measures immediately to get the poison out!
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And then there is the ‘Self-fulfilling prophecy’. Whatever you think or believe, you are right! If you think the world is a bad place, then you will unconsciously (reticular activator of your brain) look for all reasons (news on TV, war, another child missing etc.) to confirm your initial belief that the world is a bad place. If you believe you will fail a test, you will! But it also works the other way…If you truly belief you can regain your health or be the next millionaire, you will! How? You will recognize all the resources that will help you achieve your goals, and act upon them!
Positive thinking and a ’yes’ –attitude will contribute to a balanced emotional, mental and spiritual health, which in turn translates in to a better physical health (we already learned earlier that emotions express themselves physically; and that negative feelings and emotions therefore cause disease). Please review the references in the back of this book and I urge you to read these books…all of them! It will truly help, I promise!
And last but not least, we need to return to a basic human instinct and principle:
HELPING OTHERS
By helping others, whether it is your co-worker, your spouse, a loved-one, a neighbor, a stranger at the grocery store, or people and children in need….You Help Yourself!
How? You know that it feels AWESOME when you help someone, doesn’t it? Even holding a door open for an older person makes you feel good inside! You know it, just admit it! This act of kindness makes you feel good and lowers your daily stress, it’s a simple fact of life! So, why wouldn’t you do more of that? Start helping people more often or …all the time!
That doesn’t necessary mean you have to donate money to the Red Cross or Unicef (you can of course, even though these organizations waste most of your donation on administrative expenses and salaries, including a $250,000 salary for their CEO). I personally volunteer for an organization, which helps children and families in need of food and health care. We travel to the Dominican Republic to bring food and supplies, but also teach and educate these families on how to prepare simple meals or make soap with the resources they have available to them! And that’s all good. BUT it’s the daily small things you do to help other people that will heal you and combat the stress in your life! Don’t believe it? Just try it for only 2 days and you’ll see I’m right.
“You can get everything you want in life, if
you just help enough other people
get what they want” .
Zig Zagler.
This is also often referred to as ‘KARMA’.
Conclusion:
A positive, pro-active ATTITUDE and a way of living in which you HELP OTHERS, REDUCES your stress,
and makes you happy and healthier!
Yours in Optimal Health,
Dr. Mike.
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Tags: helping people, karma, managing stress, self-fullfilling prophecy
I loved this book too!
Comment by Rebecca — January 4, 2010 @ 11:38 pm
2010 is the time for me to take responsibility for my weight issues and resolve them! Thanks for the motivational words Dr. Mike
Comment by Stephanie — January 5, 2010 @ 10:42 am