Experience is not what happens to you- it’s how you interpret what happens to you

~ Aldous Huxley

One key to a successful and joyous life is emotional fitness. When our minds sway away from negative thoughts that throw us off balance and instead focus on creative and productive activities, it is a sign of inner stability.

Children love to spin in circles, roll down hills, do somersaults, fall on the ground, and laugh because they are dizzy. When their equilibrium returns, they do it again. Children need to do these activities to develop a sensory mechanism in their brains. This helps with their overall balance. It is through constant adjustment that they figure out where their center is.

This continuous adaptation to change has also proven to increase the benefits of physical exercise. Training on natural surfaces such as trail running or mountain biking instead of treadmills or riding a stationary bike utilizes more muscles due to the continuous re-balancing needed to keep us upright.

Emotional stability is also attained through knocks, falls, and bumps. The benefits of continually resetting our emotions follow suit when we habitually readjust, seeking equilibrium. Doing so allows us to find and connect to our emotional centers.

Curveballs are a part of life. Unfortunately, we cannot find emotional balance when we spiral out of control. Seeing the light when we live in uncertainty, anger, and blame is impossible. Lurking just below the surface of reason, these emotions strangle our inner well-being and feel all-consuming. If allowed, this indulged state of mind will steal our joy and centeredness.

The key is not to allow them to knock us off course.

Our thoughts and reactions are the cornerstones of our emotional health. So, learning how to bounce back when we are out of balance is crucial to our equilibrium.

The solution is to reset our thoughts through practice. Through repetition comes permanence. We can train our minds just as we have trained our bodies to improve at handling change.

Resetting our mindset happens when we change our perspective on something. It allows our brains to recalibrate. So often, our default thoughts go to the negative when our expectations turn left. Self-fulfilling prophecies are accurate. My motto of no expectations and disappointments serves me daily when the universe tests to see if I live in my truth.

As an example, last week, I planned on going for a hike. Instead, I had arranged to meet a friend, woke up early, and was about to leave the house when I got a phone call that there was a problem with work that needed my immediate attention.

I could have been upset, or I could have readjusted, calling my friend to reschedule and then focusing on the issue at hand.

Having expectations and thinking life travels in a straight line is a surefire way of becoming disappointed. However, rolling with the punches and not trying to strong-arm a situation allows us to find the gem within the detour.

Shifting to the flexible go-with-flow, an alternative, will open our worlds to possibilities and train our brains to reset when the road gets rocky.

It’s okay to have a bad day; we occasionally do. Relish in the feelings of it, vent if it makes you feel good, and then move on. Let go and turn your focus on the next project, concern, or adventure.

Epiphanies often come from seeing or hearing something out of our standard process. The twists and turns allow us to refocus on where we are going. Life reminds me of the punching clown toys with a weighted bottom. No matter how hard you knock them over, they repeatedly pop back up, righting themselves.

Sometimes, we need to swing off-center to hit our balance points. Developing our emotional fitness is the crucial element to inner stability. All it takes is a bounce-back attitude and willingness to flow.

That’s the beauty of life.

“What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”
― Otto Rank