Life has a wonderful way of throwing out the most amazing surprises in our life when we least expect it, doesn’t it? And sometimes when it does throw out a surprise it wants to be like Santa and hand you a whole bag of surprises. But unlike Santa, these surprises are not the ones that bring a lot of excitement and joy.

We all have a breaking point and depending what is happening on our life, that breaking point can be pretty high or pretty low threshold. One thing is for sure, is that the small things add up and can crush even the toughest.

This is what happened to me this past week. I had an amazing and fulfilling trip to California with my husband and some amazing like minded, positive, business people. I woke up on the Sunday snuggled with my daughter, enjoyed an easy and relaxed breakfast meal together as a family and decided to go for a little workout at the gym.

I was in such a fabulous mood, I felt like I was floating on a cloud. I hit the boot camp class with a vengeance, but just after the start I tripped and twisted my ankle. So I went to the back of the class and rubbed natural anti inflammatory cream on it and carried on with the class with no problems.

I went home with no problems and enjoyed the rest of the day. Later that evening, about eight hours later I sat down to record a training video for my class, when all of a sudden a dull pain appeared, that turned into crazy pain within a matter of minutes. It got so bad that I couldn’t even move and burst into tears.

In any case, it was so weird and I went to the ER the next morning to find out the I had badly sprained it and it was now the size of a balloon. I was leaving for a ten day trip to Australia in less than a week’s time for work and really couldn’t believe my luck.

Anyway I was house bound for the first half of the week and then one problem after another starting manifesting itself with my team. All of a sudden I was literally “fighting” four different people. I can’t stand arguing and try to avoid it at all costs, and normally one argument is enough, but here I was with four different people arguing with me and to be honest…it really sucked. I was a wreck and feeling a little sorry for myself.

In any case I was just pulling myself out of my gloom, when I received three emails from people in one of my courses that wanted to cancel. Not only that but they all launched into a personal attack on me. Now I know I am sounding like a drama queen here, but I am pretty thick skinned from my days as a lawyer. Normally I just get an email saying ”Hey I have some unexpected financial issues, can I cancel the seminar or the course and when I get myself sorted, I will be back”.

I try to help out people where I can and I also have a no questions asked policy. But these emails just came straight out with a tirade into my personality, my approach, my brand and some pretty serious accusations about my motivations. You know those moments where you think it is a joke and your mouth is just wide open…

You look around and think this person can’t be serious. Where did this come from?

I usually don’t give those things energy and I am always telling others who face similar circumstance in their life, the same thing.

But to be totally honest I was mortified and then I get a call from the school that my daughter has a fever of 103 and I need to come fetch her. I was leaving for Australia the NEXT morning. Well that was the end of me. I literally couldn’t handle it and I just broke down.

I couldn’t sleep that night as my mind raced. Was I bad person? Was I fake? Was I rude? Was I unkind? Am I failure? The next day I thought about just packing it all in and quitting…that is how I felt. I wanted to cancel my trip and just stay with my daughter.

My husband spoke sense into me and reminded me of a few things. I want to share some tips with you, so that the next time life hands you a series of good spankings you can respond in a more positive way…

The small things add up – No matter how tough we are, we cannot take on the world. It is not the big things that always break us down, but all the little small things that can add up over time and cause us to simply collapse. So make sure you don’t ignore all the small things that are causing you stress as they all add up.

Be grateful for what you have – When you’re taking a little beating, try focus on gratitude. Be grateful for all the little things and people in your life. It helps you shift your focus from the negative to the positive which can pretty quickly change the way you feel and release all that negative energy that is building up.

Other people don’t define you – No matter what others say about you, that does not define who you are. It takes a lot of courage and strength to trust yourself and ignore those words and opinions. The only person you have to answer to is yourself and when you lie in bed at night, if you feel comfortable with yourself, your beliefs and your actions, then that is all that counts.

Watch your mind – Your mind can get out of control pretty quickly when things go wrong and so you have to stop it and stop it quick. If you don’t it can play out the full blown drama over and over and add in the self doubt, the worry, the fear and make you feel pretty low. Watch it, catch it and stop it. Stop the negative self talk dead in it’s tracks.

It’s all growth – See your problems and challenges as opportunities to grow. Try not to see them as failures and circumstances that are holding you back, but rather as opportunities to become a better version of yourself.

I believe that we are here to grow and learn lessons in our life and the best way to see these things, is by looking as them as opportunities to dissolve limited thinking patterns and over come stubborn belief patterns that we all have.

All you can do, is pitch up and do the best you can. @hayleyhobson (Click to Tweet!)

XO
Hayley

Hayley Hobson is an author, speaker, Kick-A$$ Business Guru, 7 Figure MOM-treprenuer. and passionate about empowering others to live the life of their dreams and is based in Boulder, CO. Hayley creates lifestyle transformations by coaching her clients to become the best WHOLE version of themselves possible. To learn more about her nutritional courses, events, and custom programs, visit hayleyhobson.com or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.