How to respond to life's little (or big) nuisances

These little nuisances. The Spotted Lantern Fly in my water. It’s kind of like Alannis Morrisette having a fly in her chardonnay, but it wasn’t ironic…or was it?

What about health nuisances? Life definitely dishes out nuisances small and large. How we go about weathering them is the real question. In this case, it’s simple. I’ll just water a plant and then get a fresh glass of water.

BUT - What do we do when it’s not this easy?

Do we fester and pout?

Do we get worked up and anxious?

Or do we roll with it?

Do we try to find meaning?

There are so many ways to react to the unexpected. Denial. Avoidance. Anger. Frustration. Hopelessness.

Or maybe it’s seen as a challenge. A challenge accepted. Acceptance – that may be the hardest part.

Maybe not with a fly in my water, but rather a much bigger obstacle like a change in lifestyle, work, health diagnosis, or relationship shift.

Life can change quickly and how we respond has a lot to do with our mindset and overall health and wellness lifestyle and habits.

My love of learning more about mindset started in my 20s when I couldn’t get enough personal and professional development books so I could figure out my life and myself. (Secret: still figuring it out – it’s a lifelong love affair of learning.)

One thing I noticed was that there really are two types of people. Glass half full or empty. Fixed and growth mindset. Judging or open. There are lots ways to label the positive and negative, but these seem to be the key categories I’ve seen – and we all fall into these categories in varying areas of our lives.

From a health perspective, when we get a blip, a negative blood test result or new lifestyle change directives from our healthcare providers, what is our response?

Is it one of positivity – “I can beat this. I can change. I accept this and will choose to make the shifts I need to.” Or is the response negative – “I’m doomed. I guess this is my fate. Change is too hard and I guess giving up is the best bet.”

My hope is that you’re in the first group.

When I became a coach, it’s because I knew that people in the first group wanted the much-needed support to make health changes that seemed impossible. More women than I could legitimately count have put their health secondary to their relationships as wives, friends, parents, colleagues, leaders and more.

I have seen the stress. That same stress often creates nuisance responses in our bodies that can lead to bigger challenges like chronic illnesses. Stress is a precursor to many health issues including sedentary living, overeating, higher blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, inflammation and arthritis. All of these factors can co-habitate in our bodies. If a person has one diagnosis, a person will often get another one of these alongside it. Then, getting healthier can become more difficult. It’s possible to change, but will likely require radical lifestyle wellness changes to reduce or mitigate them.

A health and wellness partnership with a coach can be a helpful support system to help a person identify what needs to change, enable it to start feeling possible, and to set goals to get rid of the nuisance in your health so you can begin living a stronger and healthier lifestyle.

For today, consider an attitude check to see if your mindset is geared toward accepting nuisances with a little more lightheartedness, but serious intention to make a change. For more ways to increase your growth mindset, contact me and let’s setup time to chat. Your first call is on me.