How do I stay calm amidst the chaos?
The stress hits.
Your chest tightens.
Your thoughts race.
You can’t think straight.
In this moment, you have a choice:
Let the chaos consume you.
Take back control of the situation.
You already know option 1 is not the path you want to take, so the question is: “How do I take back control?”
The answer is to slow. things. down.
Imagine your stress is like a dial on a radio.
When chaos strikes, your instinct is to turn it off completely.
Silence it.
Escape it.
Western thinking treats stress like a switch. It’s either on or off. There or gone. All or nothing. In eastern philosophy, life moves in a cycle. Things rise and fall, ebb and flow…and that’s where the dial comes in.
You can’t always shut stress off completely, but you can learn how to dial it down.
This is key to remember that when stress rises:
Your dial isn’t stuck in one spot. It’s meant to move, and YOU are in control of how much noise you let in.
So before reacting, pause and ask yourself:
“Is this an immediate threat to my safety?”
→ That’s real chaos.If the answer is “no”, ask yourself, “Is this a scenario my mind created?”
→ That’s imagined chaos.
Most of the time, you’re dealing with imagined chaos.
Your body doesn’t just react to what’s happening.
It also reacts to what your mind thinks is happening.
That’s why a small problem can feel like a disaster.
It’s important to note here that this is not about invalidating fear. This is about responding appropriately to what’s actually happening.
Imagining that your stress is like a dial on a radio helps you to do 4 things:
Pause
Examine the situation
Turn down the dial
You have the power to control how you react.
And how you react is the difference between chaos controlling you and finding inner calmness.
What do you usually do first when stress arises?
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On Purpose
Yesterday on On Purpose, I sat down with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon for a conversation that completely reframed how we think about health, strength, and aging. What started as a discussion about fitness quickly became something much deeper, a conversation about responsibility to our future selves.
Dr. Gabrielle Lyon challenged long-held beliefs around weight loss, diet culture, and why so many people feel exhausted, stuck, or confused about their health.
Listen on:
If you want to feel inspired, learn practical tools, and hear powerful stories, you can follow, listen, or watch On Purpose on Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
Today’s Wiser Choice
Meditation is another way I cultivate inner calmness and clarity. If you’re new to meditation, that’s awesome. If you’ve been practicing it for a long time, that’s awesome, too. Either way, I want to introduce you to a playlist I created on YouTube where I lead you through 20 days of meditation.
For today, I want you to click on Day 1 and join me in meditation. Even if you only have time for 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute…every second you spend finding stillness in your mind helps you handle chaos and stress just a little bit better.
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