Stressed spelled backwards is Desserts – something to think about! – Unknown
This is my kind of stress. Everything from Apples to Chocolate, and some other stuff! YUM!
What does that mean?
Based on the image from the confirmation site listed at the bottom of the post, this quote has been around since at least the 1950’s. However, the original author is lost to time.
What I find interesting is that your viewpoint changes the word. Read front to back, you are stressed. Read back to front, your have deserts. And I am now officially hungry.
Yes, life doesn’t reverse like that. But our attitude can. People in some of the worst places have some of the best attitudes. And our attitude is a choice.
Our attitude depends on how we view a situation. Is this stress or a dessert? Only you can decide. But how you view the situation will determine your attitude, and that will determine your emotions. Choose wisely.
Why is our viewpoint important?
Prisons and concentration camps are full of stories of the exceptional people who survive due to their viewpoint. Their viewpoint leads to their attitude. Their attitude leads to their emotional state. And somehow, despite all that is around them they find happiness in the situation.
I don’t know if I could be that strong, but it is the sharpest example I could come up with where a persons viewpoint makes such a huge difference. We can all adjust our viewpoints from time to time. Does the person who just cut us off in traffic hate us, or are they simply not paying attention?
That simple change in viewpoint from hate to inattention changes our attitude, which changes our emotion. It’s easier, of course, if they didn’t cause an accident, but the point remains the same. What if after the crash you approach the car, and find the person is having a heart attack? New viewpoint, new attitude, new emotion, right?
That is the whole point I’m trying to make. Our viewpoint consists of our assumptions about what is going on, our guess as to the motivations of others, and why we think it is happening to us. All of those things are choices we make. My suggestion is to be careful of our viewpoint, and to not make things worse by choosing foolishly.
Where can I apply this in my life?
This is a timely quote for me. I’m stressing over some home improvements (which aren’t exactly going as well as hoped), and some other stuff at work. Grrrr, and all that. But I can look at these things as massively irritating, or as an opportunity to relax and work on remaining calm in the face of issues.
By keeping my attitude positive, I can more easily deal with the obstacles in my way. I am far more creative when my viewpoint is positive, and it is the same for most of the people I know. I also am far better able to cope with the stress which comes from these irritations when my viewpoint is positive than when it is negative.
How do you view an obstacle? Is it a problem or an opportunity? The obstacle is the same either way, but your viewpoint changes your attitude. That sets off a chain of events, including your emotional response to the obstacle, and what options you believe are or are not available to you in that particular situation.
Take a moment and consider some of the things which have happened in your life, either recently or which has had a large impact. Hopefully you came up with things which went well, and things which didn’t go well. Were you able to find things where your viewpoint was positive and some where it was negative? I hope so.
What did your viewpoints do to your attitude towards what happened? Take a moment and consider what other views you could take of what happened. Could you make it so your attitude was even better? How about making things much worse? Isn’t it interesting how much your attitude can change with just a change in perspective?
What things are going on in your life right now? What can you do to make the most stressful parts taste sweet? What can you do to make the good parts taste even sweeter? What do you have to do to change your viewpoint? How will that change your attitude? With a new attitude, how different will your emotions and reactions be?
We all have good days and days that aren’t quite so good. Do you see how I used my words to frame my viewpoint, therefore my attitude? They weren’t lousy days, just not as good. You can do the same. How can you look at things differently, and turn a stressed day into desserts day?
From: Twitter, @tonyrobbins
confirmed at : http://www.iliketoquote.com/stressed-is-desserts-spelled-backwards/
Photo by Alpha
