Managing stress in challenging times

On December 15, 2002, my dad died from pancreatic cancer. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years already.

At that time, 20 years ago, I was extremely challenged in my life. I had been in a major transitional phase since April that year. Things changed physically, financially, emotionally, spiritually, at work and in my personal life.

2002 was the year I went back to college while working full time; broke my wrist and developed ‘reflex sympathetic dystrophy; directed a overnight camp (11-13 yr olds) for 3 weeks while on ‘vacation’; got a frozen shoulder; took our 12-year-old out of school to be unschooled in 7th grade; decided to sell our house; got a promotion; Dad diagnosed with cancer; Dad died 8 weeks later; 5 days after that we moved into our new house; then unpacked, shopped and celebrated Christmas in the new house; then experienced the emotional crash.

It felt like a final punch in the gut saying goodbye to my dad whom I had recently built a thriving relationship with. But I’m glad he didn’t suffer long.

It was a lot! I felt like the changes and challenges would never end. Yet here I am 20 years later telling the story.

There were many lessons I learned that helped me through all the curve balls life sent that year. The most important one was that I learned how to manage my stress, so when I went through another major transition year in 2013 and then another one in 2020, it was easier. And of course the one in 202o I was accompanied by the entire world population. I was not alone.

The truth is we are never alone. Unless we want to be. But choosing to go through your challenges all yourself and not sharing your stress is unnecessary.

The curve balls will always be there. This is the nature of life. And if you surround yourself with the right support system, and shift your mindset, life gets better and better and better.

And when we use the tools available to us, we learn to live and embrace the present moment.

You have arrived. This is it. Enjoy it. Embrace it. Relish each moment with gratitude. You’re still here.

If you need a any extra support during the holidays, please join me at my next Roundtable Discussion on December 14th at noon (ET). Click below to register now. I’d love to see you there.

Love,

Maureen

P.S. Never give up.

Emerge. Evolve. Lead. podcast this week . . .

My guest on the podcast this week is Karen Perham-Lippman. This is the second time I’ve had Karen on the podcast, the first time was in December 2020. Click here to hear that episode about her story of recovery from addiction and her thoughts on leadership.

A lot has happened in 2 years because Karen has done a ton of research on destructive leadership and, toxic work environments while she completed her masters degree and began working on her PhD on this topic. She has accomplished much while working full time and is also now a published author and a mother of 3 new Navy recruits in “Intelligence.”

The very serious topic we are discussing today has affected many of us. When you have a bad boss, it can trigger past trauma, and cause you to hate your job which has a ripple effect and can create an incredible amount of stress in your life. Karen has experienced firsthand the impacts of destructive leadership and wrote a paper on it that was published just last week. You can read it here.

Please don’t skip this episode and click below to listen now.

Note: If you are experiencing a toxic work environment with the symptoms that are discussed in the podcast, please get on my calendar to talk about possible solutions for you. No charge. You don’t have to figure it out alone. Let’s get you some help.

December Special Still Available . . .

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