Your stress is killing you and your performance!

This morning as I was standing at the local gas station, filling up my car, I heard the gentleman standing on the other side of the pump mumble “These things are so slow!”  I chuckled and agreed with him since they were pumping at about half the rate of the majority of fuel pumps.  After no more than a minute he ripped the nozzle out of his car, jammed it back into the holder, jumped into his truck and slammed the door behind him speeding off out of the parking lot. As I stood there in amazement of the fact that we as a society have got to the point where we are in such a hurry that we are unable to relax while something that saves us so much time in our daily lives (your vehicle) gets the fuel it needs to do it’s job.  More importantly than that I looked back to my annual goals that I spoke about in New Years Resolution? Not for Me! and reassessed goal number 5 of “Stay Positive.”  While this gentleman chose to get frustrated he missed out on SO many things around him.  The weather was amazing this morning at below 60degrees, the sun felt really warm on my bare arms and standing there not have to think about anything or do anything for those few minutes was relaxing in itself. Now, I am by no means optimistic 100% of the time which is why that was one of my goals for 2012 but I have noticed not only a difference in the way I feel day in and day out by surrounding myself with more optimistic thoughts and people.  Most importantly for many of you though I have felt a difference in my athletic performance.  It is widely known from research that an individual’s outlook on their overall ability can drastically increase their performance and help athlete’s to cope more successfully with the stress that can come with an event.  So, next time you get in a situation that is less that what you would hope for don’t act like the frustrated guy pumping gas, instead step back, take a look at the situation  and realize the affect of it in the grand scheme of things.