At this juncture in time I think we all could all do with a little more love in our lives. Leading with love isn’t a new concept, but in a world with increasing division, anger and hate I think we could all do with a little more of this in our lives.
It can be so easy to get caught up in the hype of the media – social or otherwise to draw parallels the way your life is at the moment and feel disgruntled, negative or stressed out.
And it’s at moments like these that we need to do our best at taking that emotional step back, inhaling deeply and viewing the situation or feed for what it is. This can be a difficult situation in that your emotions may be at play or at least heightened to the point of being stressed, but this is precisely where we need to practice looking at moments like these in a neutral way.
Endeavour to take your emotions out of the situation and look at it from an unbiased or neutral point of view. Now, what do you see?
Letting our emotions run rampant causes a significant amount of stress, and thus flooding your body with adrenaline, hormones and cortisol. The downstream effect of exposure to these in your body has the knock-on effect of increased health disorders including stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure, digestive disorders to name just a few.
Leading with love is a mindset.
We’ve decided that we are no longer going to be goaded into hate, division or anger but instead err on the side staying neutral in our emotions and using love as a perspective.
Each of us makes that choice – conscious or otherwise each and every day.
So, what happens when we choose to lead with love in our day-to-day interactions?
Firstly, our stress levels would be significantly reduced if we just took a deep breath and looked at every situation and interaction through the lens of love. Imagine you’re driving on the highway, and someone wants to cut in, sure we could speed up and cause stress, or we could just see the minor inconvenience for what it is – take a deep breath and wave them in.
Two entirely different approaches, with very different responses from your mind and body. No more being annoyed at the affrontery of someone getting one car length in front of you…
At the end of the day this car length can be the difference in arriving home from work in a peaceful mood versus an angry and annoyed one full of stress and emotion.
Leading with love always comes back to us and our mindset.
We make the choice with each moment and situation – you can be either upset, annoyed or aggrieved or see these minor bumps in the road for what they really are as just part of life.
In most situations, the only person we is upset is you. This self-inflicted stress and negativity will eat away at you and come back to haunt you in a variety of ways not least of which is physical and psychological.
Stress stays with us long after the moment and also tends to take a lot more effort and energy to dissipate.
Knowing that your positive mindset and leading with love approach is your superpower changes your life immeasurably. Instead of being burdened with stress, headaches and angst we live our lives with minimal stress and a sense of we can tackle anything that life throws at us.
This level of mental resilience is what sets us apart from others. Not only do we bounce back from setbacks faster, but it also sets us up as a role model for others.
When everything around us is going to shit, who do people look for and seek out?
Correct, they always gravitate toward the person who is clear minded and is able to see the situation for what it is. Often this is the same person that can navigate their way out of these situations using their mental acuity and clear mindedness to find a solution or a path forward.
I always want to be this person. Not for the accolades of others, but to help me get through whatever life throws at me.
We all know there will be ups and downs to life, but it’s our response these situations and how we handle them that sets us apart.
For me, using a leading with love perspective has enable me to live a more stress-free life, but also one that has endless possibilities. Not one without its challenges, but when faced with these difficulties, I’m able to work my away around them while keeping my cool and putting less stress on myself.
Being human I know I will always have my moments, but understanding that I am, in the words of words of William Ernest Henley “I am the master of my fate and the captain of my soul” puts things into perspective for me each and every day.
Life is up to you! You dictate how you want to live your life – food for thought in these turbulent times.
Until next week.
Ciao!