Practical positivity

Like everyone else, I am feeling overwhelmed by the amount I still need and want to accomplish by the end of the year, which in my case is 9 working days from now, as I want family time over Christmas.

Feeling overwhelmed leads me to feel panicky, stressed with a sense of hopelessness that I will not be able to close my laptop and enjoy the holiday season. Re-casting this in a positive light isn’t easy, but this morning I did a quick inventory of what I had to do and for whom with a view to celebrating:

• Celebrating how many interesting people I get to work with
• Celebrating how these relationships have led to new friendships, new ideas and new perspectives on life
• Celebrating what I have achieved this year, because it is from those achievements that I am asked to do the work I am doing
• Celebrating the sense of purpose that I have, which gives me a reason to get up in the dark each morning and go to work
• Celebrating that my work means I have work in a busy office with lots of interesting people, but that I can work at home quietly concentrating when I need to
• Celebrating that all the things on my to do list are interesting, meaningful and will create benefits for me and my stakeholders

Lots to celebrate, which takes a little of the stress away. Instead of feeling put upon, and overworked, I look at what I have to do with excitement and enthusiasm. Well, this re framing worked this morning, but I am pretty sure I will need to re-read this post a few times between now and when I go on holiday!

But I am grateful for how a positive view can re-set my brain, bringing down the cortisol levels and with each celebration, creating dopamine (the happy brain chemical).

Have a good week.