When You’re Stressed And Stuck In Your Head, Start Doing These 3 Things Immediately

When life looks bleak, it’s hard to see beyond what’s causing you stress. The more you focus on what could go wrong, the smaller your world looks. Take a breath and step outside it, if only for a moment, and do these things.

Expand your connections

The world is full of people waiting to meet you. You can’t meet them if you don’t let your guard down. Letting love in, whether romantically or platonically, is scary. Protecting yourself is a natural, human instinct, but a little bit of vulnerability goes a long way. We’re all more alike than we think. If you don’t let yourself be seen and heard by others, you’ll miss out on what can become great relationships. (And remember, enabling boundaries is always available to you, should you feel the need; you’re in control.)

Embrace the unknown

Too often we’re afraid because of what we don’t know. We wrap our comfort zones around us like a cocoon. We think if we don’t leave our safe spaces, darkness and pain can’t touch us. However, complacency is something to fear. That feeling of comfort is only an illusion; it holds us back rather than helps us out. The world is scary; that will always unfortunately hold immense truth. But we can’t hide in our caves when there’s so much beauty and good to be discovered. Make it your quest to find it and share it with others.

Enter the present

Stress grows when we spend too much time in either the past or the future. It’s difficult but accept that the past can’t be changed. Accept that the future is ours for the taking, but we can’t always control the outcomes of the journey. What we can change and control is what we’re doing right now. There will never be a more important time than the present. Embrace it. Stay in it. Breathe. Really look and listen to what’s around you. Take inventory of what you see and hear and how it makes you feel. Capture all that the present has to offer.