Living Consciously for this New Year

Every day, every hour, every moment we make choices. Whether we are conscious in our choices, is also our choice. Many of us go from moment to moment, unaware of the passing of time. We accumulate hours and days to our lives, oblivious to the power that we hold: the power of choice. Many people complain that their life is not their own. They go from task to task, programmed to move forward. The morning is an unconscious routine, flowing into the habitual practices of the day, trickling into the monotonous chores of the night. Some exclaim they can't wait until that infamous day called Friday, yet, even that day ends up resembling the Friday's before and the Friday's to come. I find myself sometimes on the otherside of that pendulum. I actually fear routine and the mundane. I go to great lengths to schedule my days full of events and time to play; afraid that any moment might be my last on earth. Looking at my behavior from a mental health perspective, I understand what force drives my energy. My father died unexpectedly in the quiet and slumber of the night. I found his soul-less body the next morning. I was immediately and acutely aware of how grateful I was that, for some unknown reason (or perhaps some divine intervention), I had canceled my plans his last night on earth and spent the evening instead with my Father, sharing a meal and learning how to play Backgammon. If his death taught me one thing it is that a yearning for more, a desire to live with passion, might not be something that can wait to be satisfied. I want to live fully alive everyday and experience moments of joy throughout. In preparing for my seminar titled Strategies for Managing Stress, I learned a new word: Eustress. Eustress is considered a positive type of stress, which helps us to feel excited about living and brings vitality to life. It's the type of stress that you experience when, for example, you are skiing, riding a roller-coaster, planning a celebration or overcoming a challenge. Eustress is good for you. During these positive stressful situations your body responds by increasing the production of serotonin and endorphins. The result, you feel happier, more alive. What happens over a prolonged period of time of doing the same thing every day? Yes, you begin to feel like you are in a rut. You may even begin to feel mild symptoms of depression. This is because without challenges, goals, or excitement your body begins to produce reduced levels of "feel good" hormones. So each day I attempt to consciously choose to make my days more joy-filled; to view stressful situations as challenges that can be addressed and to minimize the stress responses of my body. The power of choice is profound and completely under utilitzed and under appreciated by most of us. "Choice" can change they way you perceive almost any moment or event. Changing our perceptions can change our life, our health and transform our relationships. The first step is to make a choice today to live consciously.