What's going on here is that each little mishap upsets you and your nervous system. A few in a row and you may begin to focus on the problems instead of the solutions.

This sends the message to your body that there is danger and your body begins to prepare to fight or run.

When the body is in that mode, it makes you less resilient, so it becomes even harder to relax and look at the bright side.

In our busy, schedule driven, culture you can get into habits of thinking, feeling and acting that seem normal but are not really good for you.
Normal isn't necessarily Natural.

Here is what is happening in your body: When your nervous system is continually being revved up (think rapid heartbeat, adrenaline rush) it sends the message to your hormonal system to prepare for danger- "fight or flee". You have probably heard of Cortisol, sometimes called the STRESS HORMONE.

Ongoing release of stress hormones depletes the body causing advanced aging as well as a variety of health problems: high blood pressure, heart disease, insomnia, weight gain and digestive problems, to name a few.

Imagine that you oversleep, stub your toe on the kids' toys, spill your coffee and arrive late for an important meeting, all before 9 AM!

What is the liklihood that you will expect to have a great day?

What if you could shift in an instant and send your body the message that "all is well"? You nervous system would calm down, you wouldn't need to make stress hormones and you would be able ro think clearly and problem solve better!

Stress can be managed in the moment, by working with your perceptions of a situation.

Dealing with stress in the moment protects your nervous system.
Having a system to change your perceptions and your physiology stops the cycle of negative effects and, over time, undoes the damage.

With tools for managing stress, you also increase brain function, making you a more creative problem solver with more access to your own knowledge and skills. Perhaps you have noticed that when you are stressed you don't think as clearly, remember as well or perform as well. Another way of looking at is is "stress makes you stupid"!

Stopping the stress response in the moment is the first step towards making, smart, healthy choices! To protect yourself from the damaging effects of stress:

• Get sufficient rest
• Nourish yourself with healthy foods
• Learn to stop stress before it stops you
• Learn to undo the damaging effects of stress by shifting your perceptions

For my free report "5 Keys to Transforming Stress" go to www.SolutionToStress.com and sign up.

The best way to begin to stop nagging is to start noticing what you say and how you say it. When you catch yourself in what might be a "nag", check in with yourself.

Is this something you would enjoy being on the receiving end of?

Would you speak this way to a friend or coworker?

If the answer is "No", congratulate yourself for being aware and take a few deep breaths.

One brilliant thing to do would be to say something like

"Wow! I'm sorry. I was nagging! Can we start over? I have something I would love to talk to you about."

Choose a tool from the above list that makes sense for the situation and give it a try. Appreciate your family member for being willing to listen and watch what happens!

So, would you like to know what happened with our table manners nagging?

After a family discussion, we developed a game called "restaurant manners". Our agreement was that whenever the atmosphere at the table was getting to me, I could announce that this was a restaurant manners practice session. We would then use very exaggerated table manners, dabbing the corners of our mouths with our napkins and seeming very proper. The kids thought this was a cool game and I got to see that they really did know how to adjust their behavior to meet the needs of a situation.

As always, I would love to here from you about how you did. Just send me an email at laurie@joyinside.net.

By The Way... I am working on a new and innovative project that I look forward to telling you more about next month.

Watch for news about a fun and easy way I found to support you in your quest to parent with heart.