Being Green
Many people playfully adopt the Saint Patrick’s Day tradition of wearing green.
There are a multitude of reasons for this tradition including:
…Ireland’s nickname as the Emerald Isle
…Green is one of the colors on the Irish flag
…Four-leaf clovers are green,
…Green is believed to make you invisible to leprechauns (My personal favorite explanation.)
The point is that things can hold many different meanings.
We do that too.
We give meaning to things.
Sometimes, there is no validity at all.
Many times the meaning we subscribe perpetuates a negative thought cycle.
It affects how we feel, think and act.
In a wonderful TED Talks Health Psychologist Kelly McGonigal, notes that HOW we view stress matters.
Typically, when our palms get sweaty, our heart races and our breath quickens,
we panic, we think something is wrong, we might even believe we are sick.
What if we viewed our stress response as helpful?
When we experience stress, a whole slew of internal activity ensues:
our heart rate rises,
stress hormones are released into our bloodstream,
and stress chemicals are released in our brains.
But, what if we saw this as our body’s way of preparing ourselves to rise to the challenge?
It is priming us to be able to face things,
helping us seek out others,
to find the courage to deal with life.
Ultimately, we are working towards a transformative experience,
where we create courage and resiliency.
And we can create new meaning to our own story,
shaping our perspective and our narrative in a positive light.
We feel, think and act differently.
Harness that energy that was once viewed as toxic stress
and begin to welcome it as a propelling life force as we take on the day.
