6 Tips for Being More Flexible
We’re still in fire season in northern California, until the rainy season begins.
With fire/smoke events becoming a regular occurrence, and now massive power outages for fire prevention, we’re all learning to be more flexible.
I’ve been thinking about how to develop more flexibility throughout the year, to be able to adapt more easily to changing circumstances. Here are some ideas:
Go outside your comfort zone. Travel is great for this, but we can also do it in our own hometown by trying new things that we normally wouldn’t do.
Practice making do with less. Travel with one small suitcase. Go camping or backpacking. Consider simplifying your life to focus on what is most important in your relationships, activities, and possessions.
Switch up your routines. Do you tend to be a creature of habit, doing the same things the same way? Try mixing it up - go to work a different way, eat different foods, hold your toothbrush in your opposite hand. Small changes like this train our brains to be more flexible.
Have an emergency plan. If you had to evacuate and leave your home, what would you take with you? This can be very clarifying about what is most important.
Encouraging self-talk. Telling ourselves that we are flexible, we are resilient, we can handle whatever life brings, helps to reinforce those characteristics. Noticing when we act in those ways solidifies them even more.
Build social connections. Our best security is having strong social connections. Who can you rely on in an emergency, and who can rely on you? Put energy into creating and strengthening relationships and community.
Those are some of the things I’ll be working on to develop more flexibility.
How about you? What helps you be more flexible? Send an email to liz@happybrainlife and let me know.
Please take good care of yourself. We need you!
Hugs,
Liz
