Hi everyone, it’s Pat Mussieux here, coming to you from a rather different environment today, as you can see around me. I’m not at my desk. I’m usually at my desk, doing the Facebook Live, but today it’s a different topic and I hope the sound is coming through okay. There’s a bit of an echo, but it’s an important message and I wanted to stop what I was doing, which is the flutter board, do you see my flutter board. I’ve been in the pool fluttering with my feet for a while here, and I wanted to share my three tips for dealing with stress.

I’ve had some conversations with a fair number of friends lately who were dealing with some pretty significant stuff, and I’m talking things like floods, fires, brain surgery, lung transplant, dealing with cancer, and so many other things, and I’ve got my own stuff going on right now, and it’s related to a friend with cancer, and it’s been heavy. I felt a heaviness today, so I decided that what I wanted to do is stop and do what I do when I feel the heaviness, the weight, the pressure, the stress, and get myself out of the environment.

Then, as I was here in the pool, I thought I want to share my three tips for getting through some of the tough times. So this is going to be short and sweet because I’m chilly. I want to get back in the water and the sauna, but here’s my tip number one.

Tip number one, the first thing I do when anything stressful is going on in my life, particularly when it’s something beyond my control, which is my situation right now, is to stop and count my blessings. There’s always good happening out there, always the good, so I count my blessings. Now, I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal for 22 years, so this is a daily habit for me, but when something stressful, difficult or really challenging is going on, I super-size it. I really make a conscious effort to look for the good. That’s tip number one.

Tip number two, I’ve been at my desk all day and I was really making a concerted effort to focus, to concentrate, to get my work done. I realized about an hour ago that I was just kidding myself. I was moving papers around and walking around, and just really not making good use of my time, so I decided what I needed to do was acknowledge the feelings, accept what’s going on, and remove myself from the environment when and where possible, which I can do because, since I moved to this apartment building, there’s a phenomenal pool. As you can see, right here, I’ve got a great pool, and there’s the sauna, and I’ll be going in there.

As you can see, there’s nobody here. There rarely is in the exercise room, there rarely is in the pool, so I come down here and I go mine, it’s all mine, and it’s quiet, it’s peaceful, it’s bright because of the sun shining in the window there, and so again, I count my blessings, I remove myself from the environment, and I’m going to enjoy myself in the pool. I’ll get a workout going, and after the workout, I’m going to sit in the sauna and I’m going to do my meditation.

The third tip for getting through some tough times, particularly those that are beyond your control, is to reach out and ask for help. Get the support of a friend. I keep saying to many of you, if not all of you, your circle of five, and it’s not just for work and it’s not just for celebrations, but it’s when times are tough. So reach out, tell a friend, get yourself some support. I can say, just off the top of my head, and I’m probably going to forget some, but over the past little while, the support of Kathy, of Linda, of Denise on a daily basis, there to just let me cry or talk, or just send hugs or virtual hugs. So reach out to a friend. No need to go through any tough times alone, and that’s the importance of surrounding yourself with good people, and more importantly, reaching out and asking for help.

That’s what I wanted to share with you, and I will enjoy the pool because it’s so quiet and calm here, and it’s going to give me time to just go within and be still, and acknowledge that this too shall prepare me and this too shall pass. So there you go, my three best tips. Hit share. Thanks for being here. Share these with a friend. I know I’m not alone. As I said at the top of this, there are many, many people going through tough times right now, and in my typical daily philosophy and my style of doing things, keep it simple. Take these three tips and use them. They work. Thanks everyone.