The Master Plan

Bouncing Back from Disappointments Part 1

by Anne Marie Schlekeway – August 18, 2010
We all face setbacks and disappointments from time to time. As with any experience of failure, we are often set back on our heels to look at what happened or what went wrong?  While a frank analysis can be helpful, it’s important to resist the urge to create meaning where there isn’t any and keep ourselves in the game.
”Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?” –Lao-Tzu
Especially in turbulent times, our brain is pulled to expect the worst instead of the best! This often leads to apathy/lethargy or other thought patterns that are, by nature, disempowering. Add to this the presence of a chronic illness, stress or a condition like ADD or ADHD and you’ve got a swirl! Even if you are perfectly healthy, the constant barrage of information thrown at us is exhausting.  STOP THE MADNESS. Awareness is the key.  In this series, we’ll explore what you can do to maintain a more positive beat.
Manage your conversational diet – both interior dialogue and exterior dialogue:
  1. The first step is to distinguish the pull of thoughts from yourself. It’s not YOU – it’s a symptom or an experience or a series of thoughts. Pull back and reflect.
  2. Know that you CAN interrupt this experience: you are not your thoughts, nor are you limited by the tendency of your physical brain.
  3. Set up structures that live outside of you that keep the trend toward being disempowered interrupted…get a coach, create a mantra or statement that empowers you (my favorites are “everything is happening in my favor…” or “everyone around me wins…”), have your caregivers, family and friends check in with you about your mood and mindset.
  4. Fill your home with light and life: flowers, plants and full spectrum light bulbs.
  5. Get fresh air!  WALK, MOVE, STRETCH, get outside, get a tan and take Vitamin D.
  6. FEED YOUR HEAD! Read more about the brain via these resources: Dr David Amen’s Magnificent Mind or Making a Good Brain Great or David Rock’s Your Brain at Work. According to Rock, people who are more educated about the brain are more effective in managing their emotional responses to perceived threats.
  7. Try Bach flower remedies available at Whole Foods or online – these have been very helpful for myself and my clients, managing stress and mood without prescriptions.

Next week we’ll look at simple practices that you can do to keep your mental space clear and stay on the bright side!

About the Author: Anne Marie Schlekeway

In loving memory of Anne Marie Schlekeway, the Cheekiest Chick we've ever known, who recently lost her admirably courageous battle with the very disease she fought so hard against, ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). In her honor, please support a charity that Anne Marie was extremely passionate about: Augie's Quest. Augie's Quest, an ALS research initiative, is an aggressive, cure-driven effort focused on finding treatments and cures for ALS. Anne Marie, thank you for your words of wisdom - it has been a privilege and an honor to publish them. You have affected everyone who has ever had the privilege of reading them. Thank you from the bottom of our heart. We are raising a glass of pink bubbles to you. August 12, 1966 - December 9, 2010

close

Who is the Cheeky chick?

She is fun, fabulous and fierce. She is chic, intelligent and in-the-know. But most of all, the Cheeky chick is the kind of woman who embraces, admires, respects, smiles at and opens her heart to other fabulous chicks. Now THAT'S Cheeky, darling!