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One of my life’s most heroic moments happened in 1993 right after my graduation from grade school. My classmates and I, together with two of our class advisers, decided to celebrate at a nearby resort. Since the students significantly outnumbered the chaperones, we of course never expected them to be able to keep an eye on all of us, all the time.
I was confident to go to the deepest part of the swimming pool because I knew how to swim and I was trained by my father since I was a little kid. Anyway, while I was floating in 6 feet deep water one of my friends, who also happened to be the shortest girl in our class named Joan, jumped into the water thinking that it was shallow.
I was so terrified when I saw her jump in because I knew that she didn’t know how to swim. On top of that, there were no other people around at the time. In my mind I knew that there was not enough time for me to get help, come back, and be able to save my friend.
So, I took a dive and brought her to the edge of the pool. Good thing she didn’t jump too far from the edge so I was able to lift her up to the pool side. She thanked me profusely after that and even called me her “Joan of Arc.”
Saving her was very risky on my part but I was glad that it worked. The whole experience taught me a great lesson – that staying calm and having presence of mind despite pressure and tension will not only enable me to help others but will also protect my own life.
Here are 4 things you need to learn to help you stay calm and regain rationality when you’re caught in the middle of a huge wave of a crisis.
Analyze & Control Emotions Accordingly
First of all, you have to believe that everything that’s happening in your life serves a higher purpose. If you don’t, you will have a hard time understanding the situation and you will fail to see the bigger picture.
Your willingness to look at the bright side of things and focus on the positive, no matter how hard your situation may be, helps you replace your negative thoughts with ideal resolutions to your problems.
In the piece “7 Things Emotionally Intelligent People Don’t Do,” writer Lauretta Zuchetti explains that emotional intelligence consists of three primary skills:
• Ability to analyze interior emotions and other people’s feelings
• Capacity to apply emotions to tasks
• Facility to take control of emotions
Ladies, having an equal measure of calm and confidence, or in other words, grace and poise, are necessary to attain positive results in all aspects of life.
Press the Pause Button in Your Life
It is important to take a break from life stresses by creating some time for yourself and taking a pause every time you find yourself in an overwhelming situation. This helps you broaden your perspective, come up with better decisions and achieve positive outcomes.
So, never let your whole well-being suffer by creating time for some self-care to lower down your stress levels and find your inner peace.
Writer Machel Shull shares a wonderful technique to help you have more energy and freshness to move forward with life every single day with this 15-minute morning routine.
Set Your Goals & Intentions
According to a well-known author on personal time management Alan Lakein, “Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” Without having a concrete course of action in mind to reach your goals and fulfill your visions, there’s no doubt you will end up in great loss and deep trouble.
In taking care of personal finances, for instance, many people commit the mistake of procrastinating, so when they end up experiencing unexpected windfalls or financial emergencies, they have a hard time pulling their crap together.
To take control of your time, your money and your life, check this out – “How Can You Finally Stop Procrastinating When It Comes to Your Finances.”
Stay Positive No Matter What Life Throws At You
Ladies, to see the good in every situation, you must first understand that challenges are not meant to destroy you. Instead, you must see them as opportunities to make things better and for you to become a stronger person.
Spirit Science offers an easy and interesting way for you live a happier and a more fulfilling life. The piece explains exactly how smiling literally reprograms your brain to build connections and increase positive feelings.
So, whenever you feel that nothing is going right in your life, just try to pull those facial muscles a little and wear a beautiful, genuine smile to literally make things better!
I fell into the procrastination group when it came to finances. I just didn’t want to know. I now check everything, almost daily. I want to know where my money is and it helps me track what I’m spending it on.
Press the pause button. Oh my goodness, this is perfect advice for me. Pause life, pause stress! I am going to work on this and implement this into my everyday life.
If only pushing the pause button on stress was that easy. I would love to get rid of all the stress in my life. I guess in a way I do pause stress. I work out daily, mostly at kickboxing classes. When I go to class I’m stressed. I think of nothing but sweating and beating the crap out of the bag. No stress, just sweat.
I too was like this when I was younger. I now look at my bank account weekly. You can’t get anywhere in life financially if you don’t know where you stand. People need to realize that.
I’m not really good at controlling my emotions and thoughts. What I always remember is to do my best in every situation so I won’t regret it later. It helps to keep myself positive and analyze what I can or can’t do to fix the situation.
That sounds like a great way to push the stress out of your day. I think if we all were more positive and thought about getting rid of the stress, we would all be happier.
I can totally agree with the thought process of just smiling to make things better. When I’m miserable I try to smile. It usually helps soften my mood.
Whenever I feel down, I just watch something funny like cute cat videos and it really works. It only takes me a couple of minutes before I notice that my mood is completely changed.
Laughing is so good for the soul! I will often tell people that if I don’t laugh I’ll cry, and it is so true! I have often gotten through my darkest days by laughing with friends, or surrounding myself with positive people. It really does help!