DO SOMETHING (ANYTHING) DIFFERENT
Making simple changes in your daily life will have a positive effect on your ability to manage stress as well as help you break out of unconscious destructive patterns. Use the following as practice then create your own way to “do something different”
- Put the toilet paper roll on the holder backwards.
- Sit at a different place at the table.
- Use your fork or spoon with the other hand.
- Watch a television program you’ve never watched before.
- Sleep on the other side (or other end) of the bed.
- Put a dish in the “wrong” cabinet.
- Wear a color you don’t usually wear.
- Comb your hair a different way.
- Use the wrong hand to open doors and hold things.
- Say something better than “fine” when asked, “How are you?”
After doing these, begin to come up with your own. Get in the habit of looking for ways to “do something different”. When you get good at it with small things, you will automatically begin to see opportunities to change bigger things. Before you know it, your whole life will be different (in a good way) and change will no longer have the power to stress you out.