3 Ways To Deal With Stress - Lessons To Learn From a Cracked Windshield.

Recently I discovered a nasty crack on my windshield.  Have you ever had one of those?  Being my first one, I called my insurance agent to learn how much it would cover.  I proceeded to tell her how that crack was not there the night before and suddenly there it was.

One thing I must clarify – our weather patterns have been nasty.  We had freezing temperatures, followed by nice temps in the 40s, only to be followed by snow and more below zero temps. 

My insurance agent mentioned to me that they have had over one hundred claims in the course of one week with the same problems.  (This is a huge difference when you live in a small town, and the entire county is only around 30k in population). The condition of the consistent weather changes caused the glass on the windshields much stress causing them to crack. 

This reminded me of how much stress we experience in life due to the constant changes we go through on a daily basis.  The Due dates on certain projects; health variations – one day feeling great while the next day feeling crummy. 

Budget cuts, economy collapses and prices going up – on everything.  Not enough time, enough money or enough strength to deal with it all.  So many decisions to make.

I have had these types of experiences before – we’ve all had – we all still do in some way.  How we deal with these consistent variants is the secret to help rebrand our lives.


Here are 3 ways to deal with a variety of stress on the windshield of life:

1.  Step back.  Sometimes we’re too close to the problem.  As a result we can’t see the beginning from the end.  Take a step back and look at the situation objectively.  This will help you determine the beginning as well as the current situation of the problem and be able to best approach its correction.


2. Ask for Help.  I’m not talking about paying big bucks to get help, like anti-depressants, or counseling or what-have-you.  I’m talking about talking to a friend or relative that can help you decipher through the situation.  Sometimes others have the tendency to see the correction way before we do.  In my case, I had to call my insurance agent for two reasons:

      a. I wanted to know how much the insurance covered the cost of a new windshield. 

        b.  I wanted to know if there were others with the same problem since I knew for sure there was not a crack in my windshield the day before.   And I must mention that I called a auto glass fixing shop and asked them about repairs and costs. 

These two phone calls helped me make my final decision. 

Sometimes a coaching session with a Life Coach (like myself) who knows what they’re doing can help tremendously.  Help is better than going at it alone. 

There are times when we can’t fix the problem ourselves, we may need somebody’s expertize, advice, or a simple thinking and talking through it, will do the trick.


3.   Don’t fix it – Replace it.  I have learned that much of what we encounter needs major replacement.  Much like the crack on my windshield that could not be repaired, fixed or patched.  It needed to be replaced – period! So a new windshield was my answer. 

I’m a “jack of all trades” you might say.  I was going to attempt to fix my windshield.  After all, it was only a four inch crack – no big deal.  Only to discover that a replacement is all the professionals could even do, primarily because of the location of the crack.

Some of our problems are best replacing with the right substance instead of patching them with a temporary approach.  If it’s not enough income, then lets replace that.  If it’s problems at work, there is a solution.  If it’s a problem with you kids, (well, don’t replace your kids – just fix them  :-))

The point is to just patch the problem by overlooking its root will only fester a greater problem underneath.  It won’t be long before you’re submerged in a bigger problem than you originally were.


Problems are challenges in life

Keep in mind that problems are often challenges that can propel you into your destiny.  When looking at the things that bring us major stress in our lives with an optimistic perspective, the outcome could be rather impressive.  Often times these challenges actually take us to another level in our destiny.

When dealing positively with those negative issues that stress the heck of out of us, we learn to overcome them and eventually end up helping somebody else in the near future.  This is the makeup of many doctors, nutritionists, ministers, business owners, etc.


Rest in the midst of stress

The truth is, you’ve got what it takes to overcome that stress.  Take a step back.  Once you do, ask for some help.  You might be surprised as to what a little bit of help could do in your situation, and be sure to replace stress with rest.  Don’t allow those things to pester your soul, allow peace, faith, and trust in God to help you find rest in the midst of stress.  It is there - I promise.


I wonder, how have you dealt with those "stressful cracks in your windshield" of life?  Leave a comment below and share with your friends if you think it might help them.

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