Disneyland is closed. The N.C.A.A. canceled March Madness. Major League Baseball has halted spring training. Ireland cancelled all St. Patrick’s Day parades (WHAT!?).

New York is banning gatherings of more than 500 people, including Broadway shows. The U.S. stock prices are as bad as they were during the 1987 crash.

The corona-virus outbreak has sent pandemonium to all corners of our lives. Even though as humans, we are hardwired to resist uncertainty, the good news is our minds are flexible and can be taught to thrive during change.

During times of change, there are many things you can do, both personally and as an organization, to thrive during change:

• Focus on what you can control. Make a list of the things that ARE in your control. If you are an organization, make this list with your employees. For example, with the corona-virus, you can control washing your hands, your attitude, where you go, what you watch on the news, what you think. You cannot control the virus, other people, etc.
• Communicate the “why.” If you are an organization that must implement travel bans and cancel events, communicate why you are doing so. When people know the why, they are more informed and do not have to guess (or gossip!). When people know the why, the what has more impact.
• Enroll people in the options. Whether it is your family or work group, include people in the conversations and decisions about what needs to change and how the changes should occur. When people are involved, they feel empowered.
• Be there to listen. When someone is afraid, sometimes they need to talk it out. Having people available to listen to concerns, even if there are no solutions yet, makes all the difference. During times of crisis, who you are being (your intention) is more important than what you are doing. People remember what you do, not what you say.
• Respond instead of reacting. Fear is the lowest vibration feeling we can have and when it is activated, we tend to react from old, patterned behaviors in our subconscious mind. These behaviors happen without us thinking because they are habits. Pause when you feel fear and are about to react. Think and take a moment to figure out the best way to respond instead.
• F.E.A.R. is False Evidence Appearing Real. Remember above all else that YOU have control over what you allow in your mind. YOU have control of your thoughts and what you do with them. Eighty five percent of the things you fear and worry about never happen! Pay attention to the stories you are telling yourself and change the ending. 

You are in control of your choices…be an example during these times and exemplify strength, calm, control, and above all compassion. We all react to situations differently. Be there for your family, neighbors and co-workers. Listen, encourage, and know just because we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel does not mean there isn’t one. Let’s all just be human.

By Dr. Chris Sopa, stay connected on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn. Feature photo from Pixabay.

Ilya Prigogine, a Nobel Prize winning physicist, has a theory called “dissipative structures.”� This theory states that friction is a fundamental property of nature and that nothing grows without it…not a mountain, pearl or person. �Prigogine states that the key to growth is fragility, or the capacity for being “shaken up.” �Now let’s pause for a minute and I want you to ask yourself this question…Has there ever been a time in your life when you have experienced growth where you did not experience some kind of “shaking up?” �If you think hard (don’t hurt yourself) the answer is probably no.

“Any structure, whether at the molecular, chemical, physical, social or psychological level, that is insulated from disturbance is also protected from change. �It becomes stagnant. � Anything that is true to life will not be unshakable.“� ~Ilya Prigogine

As our world, our nation and our personal lives experience chaos and turmoil, remember that in order for that thing or person to change they must experience “friction” of one kind or another. �They must be shooken up! �It doesn’t matter if it is the economy, politics, gas prices, gun control or a person…a “shaking up” is necessary for growth to take place.

Allow your life to unfold in the perfection that it is with no judgments of how it should be.� Have no expectations. �Drop your definitions of good and bad, right and wrong, black and white, want and need. �Look into your life and see the beauty of how it unfolds.

I always say that when my life gets “shook up” it is only because the finger of God is coming down to stir my life up a bit. �How do I know? �Because even I can’t screw things up THAT bad! �God’s hand comes in many sizes, shapes and colors. �Sometimes he allows us to make choices that “rock the boat” of our lives so we can fall over board, get back up, take a deep breath and start again.

Shakin’ my booty,

Chris

“Choosing the Life You Were Born to Live:� How Changing Your Thoughts Will Change Your Life” by Chris Sopa published by Balboa Press.

Click here to purchase your copy!

Chris Sopa is founder and owner of Chris Sopa International, Inc. You can learn more about her at www.ChrisSopa.com. Find her at Facebook.com/ChrisSopaInternational, Twitter @ChrisSopa, LinkedIn, and Google+.

�Mankind has a moral duty to seek joy.“� ~Shirley MacLaine, �The Camino”

• Identify your priorities and stick to them.� Your priorities are those things that are most important to you right now.� Your priorities are your decision making tools.� If something is not on your priority list, why are you putting your energy there?
• Know what you need to do to stay �centered” (in a state of joy and enthusiasm) � make a list of things you like to do that make you feel better when you are down and do those things as often as possible.
• Live in the moment � don�t future think or past recall.� The �present” is where the miracles occur.
• Be an observer of what is going on around you as well as of yourself and your own emotions.� Self-awareness is the key to self-actualization.
• Protect your power � know what people, places, thoughts and things take your power and adjust accordingly.
• Engage in self-nurturing activities – make sure to have some kind of self time every single day (5 minutes while in the bathroom does not count!).
• Take in nature and its beauty as often as possible.� Nature has its ebbs and flows for a reason.� It follows the energy of the earth instead of working against it.� Learn from her.
• Don�t take things personally.
• Don�t make assumptions.
• Define what the holidays mean to you and the type of experience you want to have and make it so!� Live into the reality you want to create � not the one presenting itself to you.
• Allow your internal reality to drive your external reality � not the other way around.� You choose your thoughts, feelings and actions�no one else.

Never forget that this is not a dress rehearsal�this is your life.� You get one shot, so make it a good one!

Joyfully yours,

Chris

Chris Sopa is founder and owner of Chris Sopa International, Inc. You can learn more about her at www.ChrisSopa.com. Find her at Facebook.com/ChrisSopaInternational, Twitter @ChrisSopa, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Still on the Balboa Press best seller’s list: �”Choosing the Life You Were Born to Live: �How Changing Your Thoughts Will Change Your Life” by Chris Sopa.

Click here to purchase your copy or a gift for a friend!

�As we must plant a seed before we reap a harvest, so we must believe before our prayers can be answered.”� ~Ernest Holmes, �The Science of Mind“

Do you ever feel as if the line �Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!” from the Wizard of Oz is your life this month?� There are many things happening all around us; people who are acting out of sorts, places that just do not feel the same and situations that seem to no longer fit in our lives.� This is all part of the process�the process of ascension.� What is ascension?� Ascension is simply the process of moving your soul, your inner self, to a new level of awareness.� It is happening to all of us as we speak.� 2012 is not about the end of the world; 2012 if about a new way – a new consciousness. �One of which we work together, we honor ourselves and our brothers and sisters, one where there is no judgment, no deceit, no lies; one where we all finally realize the true meaning of unconditional love.

August finds us all facing many realities in our lives.� With two full moons, the last one being tomorrow, August 31^st, we are asked to look once and for all at our lives and �clean house.”� Have you noticed the turmoil this month?� Have you noticed the constant bombardment of chaos, drama and upset?� Although you may perceive these things as �bad” because they do not feel so great, they are blessings for you.� They are coming up to show you, as they have time and time again, what you need to balance, release and work on in your life.� Are there people in your life that just cause constant drama, that do not make you feel your best?� Are you in situations or a job that causes you undue stress?� Are you tired of not having enough money and wonder why no matter what you do money slips through your fingers and you just never have enough?

As we move through these times, we need to remember two things to cope:

1.� Your feelings are the physical manifestation of guidance � Your feelings are the language of the universe.� You have them for a reason – and that reason is not to make you feel miserable.� If you have been feeling down this month and ready to throw in the towel (trust me, I have been there all month as well!), try to look at what is happening from a different perspective.� The situations that are causing you stress and bringing up these �not so good” feelings are there to show you what needs to change in your life.� The feelings are the answers to your prayers.� They are the things showing you what you need to do to change for the better.� The challenge is having the courage to do what you already know needs to be done.� Is it pulling away from certain people in your life?� Is it ending a relationship?� Is it changing jobs?� Is it finally kicking an addictive habit?� And my all time favorite; is it changing how you think about who you are so you can finally live into the Divinity which is your birthright?

Try unconditionally loving yourself for once-it�s not so easy.� You are your worst critic.� If you spoke to and treated your friends the way your treat yourself, how many friends would you have?� That�s what I thought�

�2.� Know what you need to do to keep your center � Do you know what things you like to do that make you feel good?� When you are stressed beyond belief, what are some things that relieve your stress (good, healthy things � wine does not count!)?� We all need to know how to cope when things just don�t seem to be going our way.� I spent 4 years on the Board of Education and one of the areas I saw in our youth and that I see in adults in my Coaching practice that is the cause of most illnesses is the lack of coping skills.� How do you cope?� Crawling in bed and throwing the covers over your head is not coping.

Honest moment � for the last two days I have been depressed beyond belief.� My trip out east to visit my �old life” was disappointing to say the least.� Nothing out east had really changed�but I have changed�for the better.� Any endings bring sadness and when we allow sadness in for too long its best friend is usually fear.� I had every fear in history come up for me the last two days; fear of not having enough money, fear of my future, fear of success, fear for my children who are both starting new chapters in their lives, fear of being alone for the rest of my life, fear of not making it to where I want to go in my business, fear of what others were thinking of me�blah, blah, blah.� I had to re-group and cope.� How did I do that?� I pulled back, took a walk, listened to music, read passages in books that inspire me, re-read my bucket list and surrounded myself with friends who inspire me and lift me up and I shut everything else out.� I took care of me.� Did I snap out of it?� For the most part�but remember that your life is about the journey, not the end point.� We signed up for it all; sadness and joy because that is the beauty of being human.

Why not make your �Oh my” feel good for once!� 😉

�This is a kind Universe and everyone and everything in it is working in your favor.� There are no tests, blocks or obstacles in your way, except your own projections of fear into your future.”� ~Doreen Virtue

I like my ruby red slippers!� Click, click!

Chris

Chris Sopa is founder and owner of Chris Sopa International, Inc. You can learn more about her at www.ChrisSopa.com. Find her at Facebook.com/ChrisSopaInternational, Twitter @ChrisSopa, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Don�t allow someone else�s behavior to assign you to their plan.

10 years ago I learned a very hard lesson in regards to my physical health.� I was working a corporate job, putting in around 55 hours a week, commuting over an hour to work every day (in traffic!), raising 2 daughters, getting my Masters Degree at night and traveling at least once a month to work a trade show.� I was one of those people who were afraid to say �No” to anything anyone asked me to do for fear they �may not like me” or think I was a �bad person.”� After suffering for 8 months and ignoring all of the symptoms I was experiencing daily, I finally had a physical breakdown and ended up in the hospital for 5 days being diagnosed with chronic ulcerative colitis.� Knowing deep in my soul that I either needed to change or I was going to die at 32 years old, I decided to take a sabbatical from work and school to heal myself.

What I realized in the 5 months I �worked on myself” were 2 things:

1. Living in fear makes you sick!
2. Your body talks to you EVERY DAY�you just need to learn its language so you know what it is trying to tell you.

What was I afraid of?� EVERYTHING!� What people thought of me; not being able to pay my bills; that I would fail; that the sky would fall; etc.� Worry and fear ruled my thinking.� I constantly made decisions based on how other people acted or reacted to me, always afraid that I was being judged.� I did what I thought �they” (whoever �they” are!) wanted me to do rather than what I wanted to do.� I was never in the equation of my life where decisions were concerned.

Your body is the last place stress usually hits and I personally believe that stress is the cause of ALL illness.� Your body is built to be healthy � it becomes dis-eased because it becomes off-balance.� Once you know how to get your body, mind and heart in sync and back in balance, health naturally returns.

The first thing I did when I was ill was to get to know myself again, which included understanding what signals my body was sending to me.� What certain headaches meant; what my body did when I was stressed, hungry or tired; what foods my body needed and did not like; what exercises made me feel good; how much water I needed to drink.� But most importantly, I had to work on my self-esteem.� You cannot �hear” the guidance you are receiving or the signals from your body unless you trust yourself.� If you do not trust yourself, you will disregard any signals as �just a thought” or �I must be crazy!”

Your physical self is a reflection of what is going on inside of you.� Take time this holiday weekend to really focus on you.� It is not a selfish thing�it is a self-nurturing thing.� Do something you love to do, spend time in nature, write down your thoughts (writing is a great form of release!), read a book in the sun, take a walk on the beach, give someone you love a big hug, do a selfless act of service that no one knows about but you.� Give yourself the gift of love by valuing yourself enough to take care of YOU.� You do not take care of what you do not value.

And just in case you didn�t realize it�.you deserve it!

Getting physical,

Chris

P.S.� I will be nurturing myself this weekend as well as I visit family in Cleveland and Pittsburgh so look for Your Journey Back to Self blog on Tuesday!

For more information on Chris Sopa International, Inc. go to www.ChrisSopa.com.