1 min readShift From Stress To Energy
by Guy Gage | April 9, 2023 | Business, Performance, Personal Management

From Stress to Energy
Gratitude weakens the normal stress response and changes our mindset and mood, allowing us to perceive situations as ones of anticipation and interest. By intentionally expressing gratitude, we can experience the shift from stress to energy, even in just 60 seconds.
Keep Calm
In 1939, the British Ministry of Information created slogans to boost the morale of the populace during the German air raids. One slogan has remained to this day. You’ve heard it and know it well. In fact, I saw it again recently: “Keep calm and carry on.” It’s a reminder to remain grounded with a positive disposition through high stress situations in order to shift from stress to energy.
The power of the slogan is more than a trite phrase to mutter when you are stressed. If you have followed this Monday Message, you know that it’s the science behind the phrase that makes the saying so effective.
One study found that having gratitude weakens the normal stress response because it creates a different mindset and mood in which we experience life. Our positive state changes how we perceive it.
Be Positive
If we perceive a situation as tense and stressful, our bodies produce a chemical cocktail that triggers our anxiety. However, if we perceive a situation as one of anticipation and interest, a different hormonal concoction is produced. Gratitude creates the mindset in which we experience our lives.
How much have you made gratitude a part of your life? Do you take time to intentionally express gratitude for your blessings, gifts, opportunities and relationships? If so, you likely don’t experience the same debilitating effects of stressful situations that your non-gratitude colleagues do.
Express Gratitude
If you were to take just 60 seconds right now to express gratitude, you will notice your heart rate decrease, your breathing slow down and a sense of calm permeate your body and mind. Only 60 seconds. Imagine what would happen if you did that every day, several times a day? You would experience the shift from stress to energy.
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