How to Live Your Perfect Day

While there are many things that get in the way, the number one thing that keeps us from living our perfect day is stress. Some common stressors are: illness, relationship problems, starting a new job, losing a job, crowds, financial issues, daily hassles.

I believe the worst gift we can give ourselves is to allow stress into our lives. You know that bad kind of stress. Why? Because it's such a negative force. Stress is not only emotional, which is bad enough, it also affects us physically. There's a reason they're called stress headaches. And that's not all. According to WebMD many types of heart diseases such as heart attack and high blood pressure can be brought on by stress. It's a nasty little culprit that you can't afford to let into your life. Too much stress can ruin your perfect day before it even gets started.

Now, of course there are going to be times when things happen that are less than pleasant or downright traumatic. This is life and, I don't know about you, but I can't control all my circumstances. But there is something I can control and that's how I react to unpleasant situations that come my way. It's not the circumstances, it's the reaction that matters most. And for you, it's your reaction that matters.

Last October, at 2am on a Monday morning, my phone rang. Now, I'm usually in bed by midnight and anyone who knows me knows that so, in my house, when the phone rings at 2am, I tend to get just a little bit anxious. This time, I had reason to be. It was my mother. Now mom is 84 years old and with each passing year it seems she has more health issues. This was one of those times. As I followed the ambulance to the hospital, I felt my heart race and the stress building. That's when I realized that, in order to be any good to my mom who was counting on me for support, it was time to put the stress to rest. I needed to find a way to de-stress and fast.

Tip#1- Breathe. Sometimes when I'm stressed, and I become aware of it, I find myself breathing really shallow. So the first (and probably the simplest) tip for de-stressing is BREATHE. A good way to remember this is: When stressed, take 3 deep breaths. And that's just what I did while following that ambulance.

Tip#2- Expose your perfect day. One of the things that helps me, is before the day even gets started, to take a few moments to visualize it; expose your perfect day. Don't tuck it away. Or worse, don't just let the day carry you through any way it wants to. Actually intend for your day to shape up the way you want it to. Expose your day. Make it known. Think of it; mull it over in your mind. But then go a step further. Write it down. Expose it on paper. Then go another step further. Read it out loud. And don't just read it out loud once. Read it out loud at least 5 times.

Tip#3- Move toward your perfect day. Take action to make it happen! It's not enough to expose your day and think about it. It's not even enough to write it down. You have to take some real action or nothing will happen. Many people spend their whole lives waiting for that perfect day. Wait? Why wait? Do you know that if you wait for that perfect day to come to you, it'll never come. You have to move toward it. This is where your reaction to circumstances comes in. Whatever hand you're dealt, the way you react is what matters most. That alone can make or break your perfect day.

Now, in case you're wondering, mom did come home after a short hospital stay. But during her recovery, whenever I felt that anxiety building, I put these 3 tips into action. Even though some days were less than perfect, they were much better than they would have been had I not intentionally moved toward my perfect day.

Are you letting your day, and its circumstances, carry you forward wherever it will? Or are you moving toward your perfect day? Use these 3 tips to help you live your perfect day and realize a joy-filled life.

For more information on how to live your perfect day, visit me on my Internet radio show, Celebrate Life!