Transcript:
Hey, everybody. Happy Monday. Welcome to another edition of solving your stress mini-series. I am your host Sam, and every Monday, we come together to discuss stress, what's going on and what's stressing you out, what strategies, tools and tactics are available to you to start implementing and really how to strategize your way of living with the stress because the stress doesn't go away. And today, I want to ask you a question. Are you still waking up every day, going out into the world, whether it be actually going back to work or whether you're working from home, homeschooling, whatever you are we're doing, are you still stressed? Because I've been doing this now for well over a year. And if you've been tuning in regularly and you're still stressed out, I'm going to ask you to do something big. It's not popular. It might even piss you off. Okay? I'm not here for a popularity contest. I'm here to give you real life strategies, tactics, and tools so that you can live with a lot less stress in your life. And how do I know how to do that? Because I lived through the worst attack on the US in our history. I was in Tower 1 on 9/11 when the plane hit it. I wrestled with post-traumatic stress disorder. I still wrestle with it sometimes. It'll always be a part of me, but you know what? I drew a line in the sand eventually after I tried to kill myself, I got the help that I needed to say no more. And I'm bringing that to you. See, I was given a message to bear the scars for you, so that you don't have to fall into the same holes that I did. So you don't have to be in that same deep, dark place in that mindset that I live with for so long.
So, if you're still in the thick of the stress, today is the day I'm asking you to absolutely draw a line in the sand and get things within your control. Why am I asking you to do that? Because the things that we can control when we realize we actually have control over them, means we can have a lot less stress in our lives. We don't have that visceral, that ferocious stress reaction - you know what I'm talking about. Some people tell me they feel it here. Some people tell me, "Oh my God, it's an instant headache." Some people tell me they get a backache, migraines, heart palpitations, you name it. Crazy... We need to stop this.
The problem is that the current social paradigm that we are living in has been constructed on purpose to have you living in fear, living in reaction, living like you feel like that you don't have control. And for those of you that are paying attention, I said on purpose. It is an absolute social construct that is being forced upon you every day. So it's up to you to draw that line in the sand and push back and say, "No, you don't have control of me." "No, you're not going to force me to cover up certain areas of my face so that I can't breathe effectively." You're not going to make me feel embarrassed or ashamed or nervous or stressed out to go grocery shopping, to go to school every day. To say the things that you know need to be said.
See, one of the biggest things in building resiliency and having control is having a supportive social structure. Well, when your social structure and the way that you are used to doing things like I don't know, hanging out with friends, talking to people at work, when that is under attack, and it's being taken away from you, it's being eroded, so you're forced to sit behind a screen, to talk to people. You're forced to stay six feet or more away from people. You're forced to try and guess what is going on with your friends because you can't see their faces. Folks, we were brought into this world as infants to learn facial expressions so that we know and we can learn. What does anger look like? What does sadness look like? What does despair look like?
It's being taken away. Like I said, today's video, this may not be popular with a lot of you watching. I'm not in this to be a popular. I'm in this for truth. I'm in this so you have the skills and abilities to say no to the stress when it comes up every day and you've got to draw a line in the sand, you've got to take control. You're probably wondering, "Well, Sam, how do I do that?" Well, right here. You're here now. That's step number one. Step number two, everything that we talk about, those practices, those tactics, you've got to put them in play. You've got to be consistent. In the Secret Service we had a saying, "We practice like we play for a reason." Why? Because on 9/11, it's saved my life and I'm allowed me to help those in need that we're not fortunate enough to be part of the training that I was.
So we practice like we play with everything in life. Because if you do that, it's in what we call locus of control. And when you have that, you're not out of control. There's no feeling of ever being out of control. You know what? There's a feeling of being courageous, triumphant and saying, "I got this." "No matter what, I got this." So stop right now. Stop buying into what's being forced upon you. Turn off the television.
Challenge. I'm challenging you, 24 hours, no news. For those of you who accept the challenge, I want to hear that you accepted the challenge that you turned off that squawk box, that talking head, the thing that's filling you with the crappy feelings of stress. You tell me you accept the challenge and tell me how you feel after one day, 24 hours without watching the news, because we'll grow together. And I guarantee you'll feel better. Okay? Super simple solution. Start turning stuff off, so you can be present with yourself, so you can understand the things that are stressing you out so that you can look at it with a clear head. You can say, "No, you're not going to have a hold on me. You're not going to stress me out. I know what to do." That's it.
So thank you for being with me today. Thank you for allowing me to bring you another awesome edition of this mini-series. And if you want to take a deep dive with me, learn more about my story, learn how I overcame PTSD - the biggest thing that you'll have are takeaways that you can utilize in your life because I give you my off the couch strategies, go to solveyourstress.com and sign up for my free training. We'll be together for an hour at solveyourstress.com. And connect with me on social media. You want more to learn more about how to solve your stress? Check out my blog. It's chock full of stress-busting tactics, tools, and strategies. It's at samanthahorwitz.com. And until next time, Sam out.