What a Fight in the Target Parking lot Revealed About Mental Fitness (#139)

There were 2 cars who had pulled out of their spots at the exact same time and they were blocking each other.  Neither car could pull forward. 

Each driver was screaming – and I do mean screaming – at the other driver.  They were cursing at each other and flipping each other off. While I could see both drivers, I had a better view of one of the drivers and she looked furious.  She was pounding the steering wheel and it was easy to tell what choice words she was yelling.  Her face became beet red as she shouted.  Finally, the other driver “conceded” and backed up into her spot.  The other woman tore out of the parking lot – still shouting at the other woman – and nearly hit another car who was driving into the parking lot.  We are making our lives a lot harder than they have to be. What do you think it did to their stress? What did it do to their blood pressure? How long did they stay in that “fight” mode? How long did they think about it? This is another reason why I think that mental fitness is so important. (I want to be clear that I’m saying mental fitness and not mental health.  Mental health is also incredibly important but that’s not my field.)Mental fitness is the ability to respond to life’s challenges with a positive mental mindset rather than a negative, neutral or stressed mindset.  Think about how much easier and better our lives are when we are operating in a positive mental mindset.  The benefits of it are incredibly well documented: 

• We are more creative
• We enjoy more peace and calm
• We take more clear-headed laser focused action
• We see more options and possibilities for ourselves
• Our relationships are better
• We are better leaders
• We are better at sales
• We are better negotiators
• We are more successful
• We have more joy and happiness

This is why I am a mental fitness coach.  I know that I cannot change the world, but maybe if we help enough people strengthen their mental fitness, we can start a ripple that will positively impact families and communities.