ANT problems?

Confused, right?

Let me clarify :: I'm talking about a classification of reactive responses.

ANTs = Automatic Negative Responses
Very appropriate, oui? Ants (the insects) are invasive, near-stealthy, get into everything, take over and leave you feeling overwhelmed that such little things can persist and bother you, causing your skin to crawl.
Just like these stealthy pests, negative thought can seemingly *appear* and be everywhere!  Some people, when faced with stressful situations IMMEDIATELY go to a Negative mindstate. They are faced with a challenge and their reflex is a feeling of distress, negativity, tension & in extreme instances Despair.  These ANTs trigger anxiety and flood the body with Cortisol (the stress-response hormone), which is bad for your mind, and as mentioned in my Abs Post can lead to belly-pouching!

Now, HoldOnPlaya, the next time you are faced with a "crisis", take a BREATH, count to ten and instead of DIVING head-first into that abyss of darkness, try to think of a PAT (positive alternative thought) to moderate the obvious negatives.

*Overtly Sarcastic Example > House Burning Down.
ANT= "OMG! we've lost EVERYTHING"
PAT= "Well, at least we're all safe; and I HATED that living room carpet, anyway"

Clearly, you would have cause to be stressed, but there's no use dwelling on the obvious problems, when you should be trying to create constructive positive solutions, to minimize the time of recovery.

Or, if a PAT doesn't come immediately to mind, don't DWELL on the ANT. Write it down and "put it away". By writing it down and taking it out of your active mind, you can review it later with a more logical/clear head. Remove the emotional knee-jerk reaction of negativity, and handle it at a less-stressful time.
WRITE it NOW - RIGHT it LATER

Both of these help to reduce that negative reaction time, as you learn to do this without the physical writing. You look at alternative perspective, you can compartmentalize and assess the true severity of the situation and you more readily find solutions, instead of seeing problems.

Try it!
Let me know how it works out.

Mia xo