Self Help: adversity helps and hurts us.

I am reading a great self help book right now, in fact it is sitting beside me as I write this. The book is The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. It is about managing your energy, managing your adversity. It was recommended to me by Lynn Terry of Clicknewz. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this was not it! I have to say that it is better!

One of the points in the book is that we need adversity or stress in order to make us stronger I wrote about that yesterday, so I won’t go on about it too much. the point is, we need a certain level of adversity or we become lazy and weak. Think of an athlete. If they don’t work out, run, swim, lift weights, their bodies do not become stronger and they cannot compete. Our bodies and our minds need a certain level of adversity or stress to make them strong.

The other side of this is that we all need to rest from stress. That same athlete, if he or she were to work out continually and never take time to rest, never allow the body to react and build back up, will soon become fatigued and they won’t be able to perform near as well.

The same holds true for us mentally. If we are continually under stress, we soon become less able to focus. We lose the competitive edge. Like the athlete, we need to take time to release the stress. This can be done in a number of ways. Meditation is good. Meditation comes on lots of different forms and you can read about that here.

Another way is some form of physical exercise. Go for a walk, a run, play tennis, ride a bike, work in the yard. There are any number of ways that you can work off stress. Some of them can be quite fun! Yes, I meant THAT! Most of us spend too many hours sitting in front of a computer at work and the physical exercise will not only help us lose mental stress, but will help get our bodies back in shape.

Adversity is not the enemy. In fact not enough adversity makes us weak. The enemy is having too much adversity or too little. Too much stress and not taking the time to do what is best for us physically and mentally causes us to become less focused and productive. Too little adversity and we become weak.. Check out The Power of Full Engagement. It’s worth having on your bookshelf. Take stock of your life and see where you are lacking in adversity, physical exercise perhaps, and where there is too much.
Here’s to You!